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THE 



PRIMACY 



THE APOSTOLIC SEE 



VINDICATED 



BY 

FRANCIS PATRICK ^KENRICK, 

BISHOP OF PHILADELPHIA. 



Ipsa est petra quara non vincunt superba? inferoram ports. 

rfug-ustiniis, in Ps. contra partem Donati. 



THIRD EDITION. 



NEW-YORK: 

EDWARD DUNIGAN & BROTHER, 
151 Fulton Street, 

1 8 4 8. 




Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by 

FRANCIS PATRICK KENRICK, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern 
District of New- York. 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 031776 



HIS HOLINESS, 

POPE PIUS IX, 

THE FOLLOWING VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF HIS SEE, 

AND 

THE ACTS OF HIS PREDECESSORS, 

IS INSCRIBED 

A3 A TOKEN OF FILIAL SUBMISSION AND DEVOTED ADMIRATION, 

B T 

THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE. 



Towards the close of the year 1837, the first edition of this work was 
issued from the press, in the form of a series of letters addressed to the 
Right Rev. John Henry Hopkins, Bishop of the Protestant Church in 
the State of Vermont. They were written in reply to a work published 
by him in the same year, and addressed to the Catholic hierarchy, in which 
he urged them to re-examine the causes of separation, with a view to 
union. That edition being exhausted, the second appeared early in the 
year 1845, divested of the epistolary form, and much enlarged, so as to 
embrace most of the points treated of by controversial writers generally, 
especially by Isaac Barrow, — a good mathematician, but bad divine, — 
the most celebrated among the assailants of the pontifical supremacy. 
This, although much larger than the former edition, met with a rapid sale, 
and the demand for the work increasing both in Europe and in this 
country, it has become necessary to issue a third edition. I have taken 
occasion to revise it, classify the subjects more distinctly, and otherwise 
remodel it, so that the same materials are presented, arranged in different 
order, with, I trust, increased perspicuity and force. It is now divided 
into three parts, the first of which regards the dogma of the supremacy 
of the Bishop of Rome in matters of faith and morals ; the second con- 
tains the explanation of many historical facts, in which he appears clothed 
with secular attributions ; and the third shows the influence which has 
been exercised over literature, science, art and civilization, by the succes- 
sion of Roman Pontiff's. This distinct classification will enable the reader 
to fix his attention on the great point at issue, without encumbering the 
investigation with extraneous matter ; but he may gratify his curiosity, if 
he choose further to inquire how it came to pass that for many ages power 
was exercised by the Popes over civil governments. I cannot flatter my- 
self that my solution of the many historical problems here presented 
amounts to demonstration, or that it will appear satisfactory to all : but 
I offer it for consideration, without any extreme anxiety about the judg- 
ment which may be passed on it, cheerfully leaving to others that liberty 
of opinion which I claim for myself in matters not defined by the Church. 
If my views of the extent of papal prerogative, or of the acts of the Pon- 
tiffs, should startle or shock the reader, let him reflect that he is not called 
on to adopt them, but only to acknowledge the guardian power which 
Christ has left for the maintenance of unity. 



vi. 



PREFACE. 



Some are disposed to regard the recent submission of so many learned 
ministers of the Anglican communion to the authority of the Roman 
Pontiff, as an earnest of the general return of England to that obedience 
to his authority which her prelates, during so many ages, professed. " It 
is impossible to deny," as Bishop Hopkins emphatically avows, " that the 
whole system of Popery had gained the ascendancy in England for cen- 
turies before the Reformation, and that all the prelates of the Church 
were bound to the Pope by the most solemn vows of ecclesiastical obli- 
gation."* It may be visionary to indulge the hope that England will 
remember and redeem her plighted faith : but may We not, at least, 
promise ourselves, that the many estimable men, who now exhibit to 
the world the strange inconsistency of maintaining the tenets of the 
Church without embracing her communion, will soon follow the example 
of their former colleagues in recognising the authority of the Chief Bishop ? 
Dr. Hopkins acknowledges that exemption from his power, if that alone 
were objectionable, was dearly purchased by the calamities of the Reform- 
ation. " Granting, then," he says, " that the Popedom was an usurpation, 
as it assuredly was, yet no reflecting Christian, steadfastly regarding 
the strife, the wars, the persecutions, the martyrdoms, and the endless 
dissensions which the Reformation necessarily brought along with it, 
could have thought himself justified in urging such a measure, if the evil 
had been nothing worse than the jurisdiction of the foreign Pontiff." t 

The recognition of the pontifical authority by several respectable mem- 
bers of the Episcopal ministry in this country, who, within a few years, 
have embraced the Catholic communion, gives ground for hope, that it 
will engage the attention of many others, especially of those who stand in 
the responsible relation of teachers and guides. It is a fearful thing to 
remain estranged from the communion of the Universal Church ; but it is 
still more dreadful to undertake to lead others through devious paths, in 
manifest opposition to the intentions and prayer of Christ, who willed all 
his followers to be one, even as He and the Father are one. The example 
of those who have returned to the obedience of the Chief Pastor will ne- 
cessarily have a happy influence on such as hitherto looked up to them as 
leaders : and it may induce others, occupying a still more prominent posi- 
tion, to reflect at what risk they continue to advocate separation and re- 
volt. This work again goes before the public without special reference to 
the respected individual who first gave occasion to it, and with the sole 
view of promoting truth and unity. 

Philadelphia, Feast of the Annunciation, 1848. 

* " The Novelties which disturb our Peace," a second letter, by John Henry Hop- 
kins, &c, p. 66. 
t Ibidem. 



CONTENTS, 



PART I. 

SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 

Chapter I. — Nature of the Primacy . . . . 15 

Organization of the Church by Christ. Necessity of a Central Power. 
Learned Work of Dr. Spalding. Presumptive Evidence. Reasons of Pro- 
fessor Major. Motives of Luther. Henry VIII. Photius. Acknowledg- 
ments of Mr. Allies. Prejudices against the Papacy. Federal System. 
Abuses. 

Chapter II. — Promise of the Primacy ... 24 

Custom of our Lord. Change of Name. Concession of Barrow. Pro- 
mise. Personal Faith. Admission of the First Converts. Christ the Rock. 
Difference of Gender. Bloomfield's Admission. Gerard. Thompson. Christ 
the Foundation. St. Leo the Great. Figure of the Keys. Rebuke to 
Peter. Rivalry of the Apostles. Prayer for Simon. 

Chapter III. — The Fathers' Exposition of the Promise 37 

Authority of the Fathers. Tertullian. Origen. Mystical Fancies. 
St. Cyprian. Peter Represents the Church. On him the Church is Built. 
St. James of Nisibis. St. Cyril of Jerusalem. *St. Basil the Great. St. 
Gregory of Nazianzum. St. Chrysostom. Peter is placed over the entire 
World. St. Epiphanius. St. Cyril of Alexandria. St. Hilary of Poictiers. 
Faith of Peter. Arian Heresy. St. Optatus. St. Ambrose. Power of 
Forgiveness. Equality of Paul to Peter. St. Jerom. Occasion of Schism 
Removed. On that Rock the Church is Built. St. Augustin. Hesitation. 
The Church through Peter receives the Keys. St. Leo the Great. Va- 
rious Interpretations. 

Chapter IV. — Institution of the Primacy ... 68 

Manifestation of our Lord. Feed Lambs and Sheep. Union of Jews 
and Gentiles. One Fold, one Shepherd. Barrow's Avowal. St. Francis 
de Sales. Perpetuity of the Power. Headship of Peter reconciled with 
that of Christ. Wisdom of Christ. Bossuet. 

Chapter V. — Fathers' Exposition of John xxi. . . 74 

Origen. Cyprian. Unity of the Church. Barrow's Admission. St. 
Cyril of Jerusalem. St. Chrysostom. St. Ambrose. St. Augustin. Ob- 
servation of Mr. Allies. St. Leo. St. Gregory the Great. St. Bernard. 

Chapter VI. — Exercise of the Primacy ... 82 

Call of Matthias. Remark of Chrysostom. Council of Jerusalem. 
Result of Peter's Address. Tertullian. St. Jerom. Theodoret. Chry- 
sostom. Model of Councils. Bossuet. Potter. To send sometimes im- . 
plies superiority. Condescension of Peter. St. Gregory the Great. Ce- 
phas at Antioch. Visit of Paul to Peter. The Jews committed to the 
charge of Peter, the Gentiles to Paul. Address of Peter to his Fellow- 
Bishops. 

Chapter VII. — Peter Bishop of Rome .... 93 

Admission of Cave. Babylon. Clement. Ignatius. Papias. Ire- 
nseus. Dionysius of Corinth. Cajus. Origen. Cyprian. Eusebius. 
Theodoret. Palmer's Admission. Difficulty of arranging Chronology. 
Both Apostles Founders of the Roman Church. Apostleship compatible 
with Episcopacy. Silence of St. Paul. Palmer's Admission. 



viii. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter VIII. — Roman Church 100 

Transmission of the Power of Peter. St. Ignatius IV. addresses the 
Church that Presides. Celebrated Passage of St. Irenaeus. Palmer's Admis- 
sion. Tertullian. St. Cyprian. Root and Matrix. Dr. Hopkins. Au- 
thority of Roman Clergy. The Emperor Aurelian's Reference to Roman 
Bishop. St. Augustin. St. Jerom. A Bishop everywhere equal in order. 
Bishops of Province of Aries. Dignity of Imperial City. Concessions of 
Emperors. Decree of Valentinian. Concessions of Palmer and Allies. 
Chapter IX. — Centre of Unity. 

§1. Communion with See of Rome 115 

Remark of Hallam. St. Cyprian. To communicate with the Roman 
Bishop is to communicate with the Catholic Church. Union of Spirit with- 
out identity in Faith is chimerical. Episcopate in Solidum. St. Ambrose. 
St. Optatus. Evasion of Palmer. St. Augustin. Inconsistency of Man- 
ning. Roman Catholic. 

§ 2. Interruptions of Communion ..... 123 

Meletius. St. Jerom. Liberality of the Holy See. Inconsistency of 
Palmer. Testimony of John, Bishop of Constantinople. St. Cyprian on 
Unity. Instances objected by Mr. Allies. Council of Frankfort. Manning. 

Chapter X. — Ancient Examples of Papal Authority. 

§ 1. Disturbances at Corinth ...... 131 

Letter of Clement. 

§ 2. Paschal Controversy . • . . . .132 

Difference of Discipline. Polycarp and Anicetus. Measures of Victor. 

§ 3. Montanism ...... 135 

Tertullian. Bishop of Bishops. Faber's Admission. Peter's Church. 

§ 4. Controversy Concerning Baptism . . . 138 

African Decree. Pope Stephen. Asiatic Usage. Vincent of Lerins. 

Papal Authority. St. Cyprian. Candor of Mr. Allies. St. Jerom. St. 

Augustin. 

§ 5. Donatism . . . . , . 144 

Cecilius of Carthage. Decree of Constantine. Sentence of Melchiades. 
Council of Aries. 

Chapter XL — Guardianship of Faith. 

§ 1. Constancy of the Holy See . 149 

Theophylact. Innocent III. Early Heresies. 
§ 2. Chief Mysteries ..... 151 

Divinity of Christ. Dionysius of Alexandria accused. Arianism. Li- 
berius Vindicated. Testimony of Sozomen. Heresy of Apollinaris. Edict 
of Theodosius. St. Basil. The East as well as the West receives the Decrees 
of Rome. Nestorius. St. Cyril. Decree of Celestine. Council of Ephe- 
sus. Eutyches. Flavian writes to the Pope. Letter of Valentinian. 
Council of Chalcedon. Acknowledgment of Palmer. Blessed Virgin. 
§ 3. Grace ...... 167 

African Councils. Innocent I. Further Examination superfluous. Zo- 
simus. St. Prosper. St. Vincent of Lerins. Paulinus of Milan. Nesto- 
rius. St. Leo. 

§ 4. Testimonies of Fathers . . . .175 

St. Jerom. St. Leo. Acknowledgment of Casaubon. 
§ 5. Vindication of Honorius . . . .177 

Anathema. Letters of Honorius. Agatho. St. Bernard. Bishops of 
Tarragona. 

Chapter XII. — Governing Power. 

§ 1. Exercise of Authority . . . .182 

St. Celestine. St Cyprian. Decree of Siricius. Innocent I. Zosimus. 
St. Leo. Just Declaration of Bossuet. Dispensing Power. Boniface I. 
Consultations. 



CONTENTS. 



is. 



§ 2. Universal Patriarch .... 190 

John the Faster. Council of Chaleedon. St. Gregory the Great. By- 
zantium. Acknowledgment of the Eastern Church. Acts of Gregory. 
Serenus of Marseilles admonished. Patriarchs address Gregory with reve- 
rence. Decree of Phocas. 

Chapter XIII. — The Hierarchy. 

§ 1. Patriarchal System. . . . 196 

Extent of Western Patriarchate. Origin of Patriarchal Jurisdiction. 
Sixth Canon of Nice. Version of Ruffmus. Suburbicarian Churches. 
Boniface I. Council of Chaleedon. St. Leo. 

§ 2. Western Patriarchate . . . .200 

Innocent I. Pallium. Primates. Guizot. Clinch. Acknowledgment 
of Mr. Allies. 

§ 3. Apostolic Vicars ..... 203 

Barrow's Avowal. First Instance of Apostolic Vicar for Illyricum. Pon- 
tifical Instructions. St. Leo the Great. Modern Vicars Apostolic. Bishops 
not mere Delegates. 

§ 4. Papal Relation to Patriarchs .... 207 

Patriarchal Power. Dependence on the Pontiff. Avowal of Mr. Allies. 
Juvenal of Jerusalem. Bishop of Constantinople. Embassy to Rome. 
St. Basil. 

Chapter XIV. — Deposition of Bishops . . . 213 

Occasional Encroachments. Ancient Reservation to the Holy See. 
Potter's Testimony. Deposition of Marcian of Aries, solicited by St. Cy- 
prian. Observation of Mr. Allies. Roman Council. Imperial Edict. 
Mosheim and Maclaine. Zosimus. Celestine. Council of Chaleedon. 
Ephesus. Bishops of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Constantinople Deposed. 
Anthimus Deposed by Agapitus. Primate of Byzacium. 

Chapter XV. — Appeals. 

§ 1. Ancient Examples ..... 222 

Marcion goes to Rome. Basilides. Cyprian's Judgment. Privatus of 
Lambesita. Cyprian complains of wanton appeals as calculated to Defeat 
Justice. Observation of Mr. Allies. Appeal of Athanasius. Letter of 
Julius. Custom to write first to Rome. Marcellus of Ancyra. Passage 
of Socrates. Council of Sardica. St. Basil an Illustrious Witness. Ap- 
peal of Chrysostom. 

§ 2. African Controversy ..... 237 

Council of Carthage. Appeal of Apiarius. Sardican Canons. Misno- 
mer. Appeals of Bishops. Letter to the Pope. Appeal of Celestius. 
African Instances of Appeal. 

§ 3. Promiscuous Examples .... 245 

Chelidonius. Flavian. American Editor of Mosheim. Theodoret. 
John Talaja. Enumeration of Appeals by Barrow. Pope Gelasius. 

Chapter XVI. — The Church of England. 

§ 1. Britons ...... 249 

Introduction of Christianity. British Bishops in Councils of Aries and 
Sardica. St. Germanus Legate of Celestine to the Britons. Bishops of 
Cyprus. Autocephalous Character. Forgery of Address of Abbot Dinoth. 
Fuller's Quaint Acknowledgment. Gregory gives Authority over British 
Bishops. 

§ 2. Anglo-Saxon Church .... 253 

Canterbury Founded by Augustin. 
§ 3. Paschal Controversy .... 255 

Britons and Irish follow Old Cycle. King Oswin decides in favor of the 
Roman usage. 

§ 4. Anglo-Saxon Hierarchy .... 256 

Plan Traced by Gregory. Changes made by Vitalian and Agatho. 



CONTENTS. 



Lichfield raised to Metropolitical Dignity by Adrian. Pallium. Several 
English Metropolitans go to Rome : some are consecrated by the Pope. 
Papal Legates. 

§ 5. Acknowledgment of the Primacy . . ♦ 259 

Bede. Alcuin. Anglo-Saxon Pontifical. Councils. Deposition of 
Bishops. Appeal of Wilfrid. 

§ 6. Modern Church of England . . . 263 

Plea of Mr. Allies. Measures of Henry VIII. Futile Attempts of Pal- 
mer. Female Supremacy. 

Chapter XVII. — Papal Prerogatives . . . 268 

False Decretals. Presidency of the Universal Church. St. Leo. Right 
to Judge in Controversies of Faith. Definitions ex cathedra. Assembly of 
1682. Plenitude of Power. New Organization of French Hierarchy. 
Hypothetical Argument of Bellarmine. Acknowledgment of Voltaire. 
Relations of Pope to Councils. Not necessary to define extent of preroga- 
tive. Observation of Palmer. 

Chapter XVIII. — Unbroken Succession of the Bishops 
of Rome .... ... 280 

Invitation of Augustin. Schism of Novatian. Cornelius Bishop of 
the Catholic Church. St. Cyprian. Felix Intruded. Schisms. Imperial 
Interference. Great Schism. Absence from Rome. Simoniacal Elections. 
Interregnums. Fable of Pope Joan. Elizabeth of England. St. Augus- 
tin's Appeal. 

Chapter XIX. — Papal Election. 

§ 1. Imperial Interposition . . . . 292 

Interference of Odoacer, King of Italy. Eastern Emperor. Popes 
Consecrated without the Imperial Assent. Western Emperors. Oath re- 
quired by Otho I. Amount of Deference to Emperors. St. Gregory VII. 
Esclusiva. 

§ 2. Mode of Election 296 

Office not to be Bequeathed. Popular Influence. St. Celestine. Coun- 
cil of Laodicea. Conclave. 

Chapter XX. — Ceremonies. 

§ 1. Ceremonies after Election . . . 300 

Adoration. Kissing of the foot, Ancient Oriental Rite. Chair of State. 
§ 2. Ceremonies of Coronation . . . 302 

Burning of Bunch of Flax. Pallium. Gospel in Latin and Greek. 
Tiara. Cap of Liberty. Address of Council of Baltimore. 

PART II. 
SECULAR RELATIONS. 

Chapter I.— Patrimony of St. Peter . . 309 

No Earthly Possessions, or Dominion, given by Christ. Wealth of the 
Roman Church. Donation of Constantine. Humane Treatment of Tenants. 
French Princes. Title of Patrician. Acts of Sovereignty. Heroism of 
Leo IV. Relations of Pope and Emperor to the Romans. Gibbon's 
account of the origin of the Papal Dominion. Anticipations of Dr. Jarvis. 

Chapter II. — -Authority over Princes. 

§ 1. In Matters of Faith and Morals . 325 

Pontiff superior to all members of the Church. Gelasius explains the re- 
lations of the two powers. Means employed against Princes. 
§ 2. In Secular Concerns «... 331 

No Civil Power now claimed. Creation of Emperor by Leo III. 
British Critic. Remarkable avowal of Voltaire. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter III. — Peace Tribunal . . . 341 

Council of Rheims. Louis the Fat. Princes sought the Pope's Media- 
tion. St. Anselm. Genoese and Pisans reconciled. Pope's Power implored 
by both parties. Federal Union. Decree of Lateran. War Sometimes 
Necessary. Truce of God. Improvement in the Laws of War. 

Chapter IV. — Deposing Power. 

§ 1. Origin of the Power . . . .351 

Abdication of Wamba. Council of Savonieres. Saxons complain to 
Alexander II. Threats of Gregory VII. Henry IV., seeks his influence 
to suppress Revolt. Crimes of Henry. Compact. Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. Effects of Excommunication. Views of Gregory. 
§2. Subsequent Instances .... 358 

Alexander III. sanctions the Lombard League. Frederick II. deposed 
in Council of Lyons. Act of the Pope. Impeachment of the President. 
§ 3. Never formally defined . . . . 361 

Bull of Boniface VIII. Definition. Excellence of Sacred Power. Canon 
'of Lateran. Acknowledgment of Monarchs. 

§ 4. Deposition of Elizabeth . . . .364 

Object of the Sentence. Armada. Conduct of English Catholics. 

§ 5. Disclaimers ... . . . 365 

French Clergy in 1682. Cardinal Antonelli. Bull of Pius VII. 

Chapter V. — Papal Sanction . . . 368 

Transfer of French Crown. Settlement of Succession. Sanction of 
Treaties. Invasion of Ireland. Grants to Teutonic Knights. Bull of 
Alexander VI. Baluffi, Wheaton, Prescott. 

Chapter VI.— Papal Polity . 377 

Christianity the Supreme Law. Remarks of Arnold. Church and State. Mr. 
Allies. Ecclesiastical Immunities. St. Anselm. St. Thomas of Canterbury. 
Principles of Government. Liberty. Tuscan League. Elective Principle. 

Chapter VII. — Crusades . . . 391 

Efforts of Sylvester II. Gregory VI. State of the Eastern Christians. 
Peter the Hermit. Councils of Piacenza, Clermont. Discourse of Urban 
II. League between Greek Emperor and the Crusaders. Defensive Wars. 
St. Bernard. Indulgences. Alms. Results of the Crusades. 

Chapter VIII. — Coercion. 

§ 1. Pagans and Jews . . . . 411 

Liberty of Conscience vindicated by Tertullian. Ethelbert. Council of 
Toledo. Innocent IV. Facts Regarding the Jews. Rome their Asylum. 
§ 2. Sectaries ..... 413 

Conduct of Constantino. Right of Property. Imperial Laws. Antiso- 
cial Principles. Outrages of Circumcellions. Council of Carthage. 
§ 3. Crusades against Manicheans . . . 418 

Canons of Toulouse and Lateran. Excesses of Sectaries. Assassina- 
tion of Legate. Instructions of Gregory IX. Testimony of Voltaire. 

Chapter IX. — Inquisition. 

§ 1. Ancient Tribunal ..... 424 

Council of Verona. Quasitores fidei sent by Innocent III. Spirit of 
Inquisitors. St. Peter de Castelnau. Civil sanction. 
§ 2. Spanish Inquisition ..... 428 

Ferdinand of Spain. Object. Treasonable designs of Moors. Royal 
tribunal. Opposition of Popes to its establishment in Naples and Milan. 
§ 3. Mode of Proceeding . . . . .430 

Secrecy. Requisites for arrest. Mode of trial. Torture seldom used : 
long abandoned. Searching process. Exaggerations of Llorente. 
§ 4. Roman Inquisition ..... 435 

Congregation of cardinals. Temporal attributions. Archives seized by 
the French. Heresy regarded as a crime against society. 



XU. CONTENTS. 

PART III. 
LITERARY AND MORAL INFLUENCE. 

Chapter L— Personal attainments . . . 441 

Gregory the Great misrepresented. Testimony of Agatho. Rome the 
source of letters to the West. Nicholas Breakspere. 

Chapter II. — Measures to promote learning. 

§ 1. Libraries ...... 448 

Popes collectors of books. Vatican library. Nicholas V. 

§ 2. Schools 449 

Schools in England. Literary accomplishments of ladies. Decrees of 
Roman Councils. Universities. 

Chapter III.— Mediaeval Studies . . . 452 

Divinity. St. Thomas Aquinas. Aristotle. Modern spirit. Canon law. 
Oriental languages. 

Chapter IV. — Revival of Letters . . . 45S 

Dante. Petrarch crowned in Roman capitol. Poets. Historians. Elo- 
quence. Belles Lettres. Tuscan genius. Testimony of Voltaire. Re- 
formation prejudicial to literature. Greek studies. Ippolita Sforza. 

Chapter V. — Science. 

§ 1. Medicine ...... 467 

Salerno. Montpellier. Anatomy. State physicians. Professorship of 
Medicine. Natural History. Minerals. Botany. 

§ 2. Astronomy ...... 469 

Virgil the Irish missionary. Antipodes. Correction of the calendar by 
Gregory XIII. Meridians. Earth's motion round the sun. Copernicus. 
Galileo. Decree of Roman Inquisition. Cassini. Benedict XIV. 

Chapter VI. — The Arts .... 476 

Rome renders the arts tributary to religion. Temples and statues. 
Paintings. St. Peter's. Landscapes. Miniatures. Engraving on diamonds. 

Chapter VII. — Art of Printing. 

§ 1. Encouragement of Printers .... 481 

Printers at Rome in 1467. Activity of the Roman press. 
§ 2. Restrictions on the Press .... 485 

Decree of Alexander VI. Leo X. Committee apointed by Council of 
Trent. List of prohibited Books. Freedom of the Press. 

Chapter VIII. — Moral Influence. 
§ 1. Civilization ...... 488 

Struggle of the Popes against Feudalism. Civilization of the Heathen. 
Missionaries of Germany. Monastic Institutions. Devotion to the Virgin. 
§ 2. Personal Virtues. . . . . .491 

Charity of Roman Bishops. The Martyr Lawrence. Fortitude. Mar- 
tyrs. Pius VI. Pius VII. Humility. Celestine V. 

§ 3. Recognised Sanctity. .... 500 

Chapter IX. — Charges against the Popes. . . 502 

Formosus. Stephen. Weight of Luitprand's testimony. Boniface VIII. 
Conduct before receiving orders. Leo X. Innocent X. vindicated. Alexan- 
der VI. Character of Pontiffs as Sovereigns. Sixtus IV. Nepotism. 



Catalogue of the Popes . . . . .515 



V 



THE PRIMACY. 

PART I . 
SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. 



CHAPTER I. 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 

The first question which presents itself to the mind in refer- 
ence to the important subject of the Church, is, whether Christ 
our Lord formed the multitude of his followers into a society, 
and appointed officers to govern them. There are many at 
the present day, who confidently answer in the negative, con- 
tending that He left it entirely optional with believers in his 
doctrine, to assume whatsoever form they pleased for the fur- 
therance of the great objects of His divine mission. It may 
appear strange, that this can be maintained by any who admit 
the Scriptures, which testify, so clearly, to the appointment by 
Christ of teachers and rulers, with a perpetual commission : 
but it is scarcely so surprising as that some should hold that 
Christ did organize His Church, and yet deny the main princi- 
ple of her organization, which is unity by the government of 
one man, as the Scriptures no less clearly attest. The fact 
that Christ appeared on earth as Supreme Teacher, invested 
with all power and authority, should prepare us for a state of 
Christian society, in which one would hold His place, exer- 
cising, by delegation, those powers which He inherently pos- 
sessed. That such a social form would be best adapted to the 
great ends of revelation, reason itself must convince us, since 
in order to diffuse and preserve the revealed doctrines, it must 
be of the highest importance to have a chief depositary and 
supreme guardian, from whose chair of instruction the voice 
of truth might issue to the farthest extremities of the earth, 
and who, from this eminence, as from a watch-tower, might 
discover and defeat the efforts of innovators. The union of 
believers could best be promoted by a central authority divine- 
ly established and protected ; and the perpetuity of the Church, 
which, without unity, is impossible, could thus be secured. 



I 



16 NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 

In every form of civil government, however limited may be 
its sphere of action, unity is necessarily sought by means of a 
supreme magistrate, with such limitations of his power as the 
genius of the people may require. The existence of such an 
officer in the Church, is the more necessary, inasmuch as she 
is composed of an endless variety of nations, who could not 
unite in one society, unless by means of a general head.* She 
has been often styled " a master-piece of human policy," be- 
cause she is so constituted as to resist the many assaults from 
without, and to be uninjured by the conflict of internal ele- 
ments. Her strength and power must be ascribed to her unity, 
which conservative and vital principle of her organization she 
owes to her Divine Founder. In leaving her a visible head to 
govern in His Name, He left her the pledge of his own perpe- 
tual presence, by which she repels every assault, and remains 
secure of victory over all her foes. No greater evidence of 
His divinity is needed to confound the unbeliever, than the fact 
that He so framed His Church as to secure her perpetual du- 
ration, whilst every human institution, howsoever wisely plan- 
ned and powerfully sustained, after temporary prosperity, more 
or less rapidly dissolves. Apart from positive evidence, we 
may infer the divine institution of the primacy, from the fact 
that it effectually tends to unite the followers of Christ in an 
unbroken and invincible phalanx. That which makes the 
Church one, and renders her superior to all the efforts of her 
enemies, is surely not a device of human policy, but the insti- 
tution of her Divine Founder. 

I would not, however, confine the investigation of the prim- 
acy to abstract reasoning. It is a matter of fact, and there- 
fore to be established by positive evidence. The New Testa- 
ment, as far as it is a record of the institutions of Christ, and 
of their practical development, presents historical proof to all 
who regard it as a purely human composition, and divine testi- 
mony to such as recognise its inspiration. In an inquiry like 
the present, the obvious meaning of the words, as gathered 
from the context, and illustrated by parallel passages, may be 
fairly urged in proof; and where discrepancy of sentiment 

* The reader will find this, and other arguments, ably presented in the 
tenth Lecture of Dr. Spalding, in his admirable " Lectures on the General 
Evidences of Catholicity." Louisville, 1847. 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 



17 



exists in regard to the interpretation, the unbiassed judgment of 
the ancient Christian writers may be justly appealed to. The 
monuments of antiquity, which attest the actual government 
of the Church in the early ages, should be examined in order 
to ascertain what was believed and acknowledged to be the 
authority left by Christ for that purpose : since the ancient ge- 
neral and constant persuasion of all Christians, on a matter 
of public polity, and daily practice, must be held sacred, ac- 
cording to the celebrated axiom of Vincent of Lerins, which is 
consonant with common sense : Quod semper, quod ubique, quod 
ab omnibus. 

Whoever assails an existing institution, or a received doc- 
trine, necessarily takes on himself the burden of proving that 
the institution is an innovation, and that the doctrine was 
introduced subsequently to the age of the apostles.* The pre- 
sumption is in favor of that which is established, because it is 
reasonable to suppose that its claims had been thoroughly ex- 
amined before they were acknowledged. If the opponent him- 
self had previously recognised the authority, he is still more 
evidently bound to show cause why he now seeks to discard it, 
and his arguments are unworthy of attention, until all suspi- 
cion of improper motives has been removed. 1 Luther rose in 
revolt against the papal power, after loud protestations of un- 
reserved submission, and after his resentment had been pro- 
voked by the condemnation of his errors. Henry VIII. shook 
off the Papal yoke when it galled him ; the Pontiff refusing to 
minister to his passions, by divorcing his lawful queen, that he 
might take an adulteress to his bed. Many centuries before 
the appearance of the apostate monk, or of the licentious 
despot, Photius, in the ninth century, assailed the Roman pri- 
macy ; but only when the Pontiff had resisted his usurpation 
of the patriarchal chair, to the injury of the rightful occupant, 
Ignatius. The motives of these opponents of Rome were un- 
questionably suspicious. Hence the arguments, by which they 
attempted to disprove the divine origin of the primacy, were 

* For the full development of the presumptive argument, and the complete 
exposure of the fallacies of Anglican and Episcopalian theories on this point, 
I beg to refer to " Reasons for Acknowledging the Authority of the Holy Ro- 
man See, by Henry Major, late a Clergyman of the P. E. Church." Phila- 
delphia, 1846. 



18 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 



to be received with caution and distrust. It should be pre- 
sumed that an authority which existed in the ninth, as well as 
in the sixteenth century, and which was opposed by men under 
the influence of passion, was still more ancient, nay, was 
coeval with Christianity itself. If, as we go back to the ear- 
liest times, we meet instances of its exercise in every age, the 
presumption is strong, that it existed then, substantially the 
same as when it was assailed by ambitious, restless, or licen- 
tious men. In the scarcity of ancient documents, and in the 
obscurity in which the persecutions of the early ages neces- 
sarily involved the constitution and internal administration of 
the Church, it is unreasonable to expect the same degree of 
evidence of the exercise of power by her officers, as in later 
times, of which fuller records are possessed, and in which her 
action was less controlled. " So long as the Church," observes 
Mr. Allies, " was engaged in a fierce and unrelenting conflict 
with the Paganism and despotism of the empire, she could 
hardly exhibit to the world her complete outward organiza- 
tion."* It is reasonable to infer that her government was the 
same previously, as in the fifth and fourth ages, unless there be 
conclusive evidence to the contrary. Those who deny the pri- 
macy to be an original principle of Church organization, in 
vain object the insufficiency of the proofs of its operation in 
the early ages. In order to meet the abundant evidence of its 
powerful activity at a subsequent period, they should show the 
time in which it was first established, the means used for its 
introduction, and explain how it happened that it met with no 
opposition, or that that opposition was unsuccessful. 

Some of the Pontifical acts which I shall have occasion to 
enumerate might be referred to mere patriarchal jurisdiction; 
but the attentive reader will perceive, that they all presuppose 
the divine institution of the primacy, and the authority of the 
Bishop of Rome as derived from St. Peter. The proofs here 
furnished cannot be eluded, merely by saying, that many of 
them are explicable on the patriarchal theory : for we must 
examine whether the Pontiffs rested their claims on this 
ground, or on the divine commission ; and whether the bishops 
submitted to them on principles of ecclesiastical economy, or 

* " The Church of England Cleared from the Charge of Schism, by 
Thomas William Allies, Rector of Launton, Oxon.," p. 15. 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 



19 



in obedience to a divine mandate, which they believed to be 
delivered in the Gospel. To invent a theory, is not sufficient ; 
we must inquire into a fact, namely, whether the power of the 
Bishop of Rome throughout the Western patriarchate, as well 
as in the East, was based on the commission given to the apos- 
tle, whose chair he occupied. If continual reference be made 
to this commission in all the documents which have come 
down from those times, it is vain to say that the same acts 
might have been performed in virtue of conventional arrange- 
ments, since they actually proceeded from a higher source. 

The attempt has recently been made by a most ingenuous, 
although not successful, inquirer after truth, to distinguish the 
primacy from the Supremacy,* and by the admission of the 
former to elude the evidences by which the claims of the Ro- 
man Pontiff are supported. Mr. Allies is not to be understood 
as acknowledging a mere precedency in rank, but an effectual 
authority in the Bishop of Rome, superior in degree to that of 
any other bishop, although not different in kind. This prima- 
cy of the successor of Peter, which, by his avowal, was al- 
ways recognised in the East as well as in the West, is wholly 
different, in his opinion, from supremacy, or monarchy, such 
as is now ascribed to the Pontiff by his most consistent sup- 
porters. The amiable writer has unhappily mixed up a theory 
with the dogma, and confounded the opinions of individual 
divines with the defined doctrines of the Church : whence he 
has created for himself the difficulties which have perplexed 
him, and caused him to sit down confused and despondent at 
the end of a laborious research. The result would have been 
different had he kept in view the definition of the Council of 
Florence : " We define that the holy Apostolic See and Roman 
Pontiff holds the primacy throughout the entire world, and 
that the said Roman Pontiff is the successor of the blessed 
Peter, the prince of the apostles, and is the true vicar of 
Christ, and the head of the whole Church, and father and 
teacher of all Christians ; and that to him, in the person of 
blessed Peter, full power was given by our Lord Jesus Christ 
to feed, rule and govern the Universal Church, as also is con- 
tained in the acts of oecumenical councils and in the sacred 

* Tide The Church of England Cleared from the Charge of Schism, 
p. 13, 27. 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 



canons."* There is nothing in this definition which is not 
admitted in some part of the work of Mr. Allies, or which at 
least is not fully sustained by the authorities which he has so 
faithfully set before his readers. 

Those who live under republican institutions are naturally 
prejudiced against an authority which resembles a monarchy, 
since one man, as vicegerent of Christ, governs the Universal 
Church. I will not insist here on the fact that he is an elected 
ruler, chosen from the body of cardinals, whose office is not 
hereditary, but is the reward of distinguished merit ; neither 
will I dwell on the limitations of pontifical power arising 
from the nature of the doctrines and laws of Christ, of which 
His earthly representative cannot change an iota ; still less 
will I plead the practical limitations which may arise frorr 
canonical enactments, national usages, and established prece- 
dents. A power in things spiritual which affects conscience 
alone cannot be arbitrary and despotic, being an ema 
nation from the power of Christ, and being dependant 
for its successful exercise on the voluntary submission o 
those whom it regards. It is necessary to approach the 
examination of this subject with a mind prepared to em 
brace the authority which Christ has established, with 
out regard to our political prejudices, or national predilec- 
tions. We are not allowed to model His Church according 
to our views, but we must accept her as she was framet 
by Him, who has done all things well, and whose providence 
watches over His institutions, that they may be channels oi 
grace and blessing to mankind. I shall not attempt to present 
any qualified view of pontifical power calculated to win po- 
pular favor. Let the constitution of the Church be styled mo- 
narchical, provided it be well understood that Christ is the 
sovereign, whose mild authority must be reflected in the gov- 
ernment of his earthly representative. Let her aristocratic 
character be admitted, but with the just observation, that in 
her, birth or wealth gives no title of nobility, since her princes 
are chosen indiscriminately from all classes, wherever virtue 
finds votaries. Even Voltaire remarks, that "the Roman 
Church has always enjoyed the advantage of rewarding 
merit with honors which are elsewhere given to birth."f 

* Cone. Flor., collat. xxii., p. 985. V. ix. col. Hard. 

f L'Eglise Romaine a toujours eu cet avantage de pouvoir donner an 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 



21 



It would be easy to show what elements of democracy 
are contained within her : but a divine institution needs 
not be supported by an appeal to popular prejudice. To 
borrow the words of James Bernard Clinch, a learned 
member of the Irish bar in the early part of this century : 
" Whatever be the authority which exists in the Christian sys- 
tem, that authority, in its application, must be as different 
from the execution of worldly force as it is superior in its 
origin. To seek for parallels between the genuine idea of 
Christian polity, and the several species of human organiza- 
tion of force, I consider to be extreme absurdity. To defend 
the government of the Church as a pure monarchic, or as an 
aristocratic, or as a republican system, or as resulting from 
any temperament of these three forms, must necessarily lead 
into error ; and so far, must estrange the mind from the whole 
of the salutary and everlasting purposes of the Gospel, which, 
except in the Catholic Church, are not known, or cannot be 
realized. If it were lawful to circumscribe the Christian state 
by any general name, it might more aptly be called a federal 
system, because its essential compact is unity. There is no 
monarchy in the Christian Church but that of Christ ; there is 
no aristocracy ; there is no power of the commons. There 
are ministries and offices distinct, and there are subjects amen- 
able to these offices. But the highest magistrate of spiritual 
things can only be the next representative of Christ for Chris- 
tians ; and Christ has declared that He came not to have ser- 
vitude performed unto Himself, but to perform it, and to lay 
down His life as a ransom for multitudes."* 

By whatsoever appellation we may designate the constitu- 
tion of the Church, our attachment to our country and its in- 
stitutions will not be affected by it, since there is an immense 
difference between things human and divine. As we must 
not suffer our political predilections to prejudice us against 
the form of government which Christ our Lord has established 
in His Church, so we need not seek to assimilate civil to ec- 
clesiastical polity. It has been well observed by Ranke, that 
" this religious system has no inherent or necessary affinity to 

merite ce qu'ailleurs on donne a la naissance." Voltaire, Essai sur l'Histoire 
Generate. H. de l'Empereur Henri V. 

* Letters on Church Government, by J. B. Clinch, Barrister at Law. 
Dublin, 1815. 



22 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 



one form of government more than to another."* " The Chris- 
tian religion," says St. Priest, "which has existed for near two 
thousand years, is not indissolubly attached to any political 
form. Under the shadow of absolute thrones, or of limited 
monarchies — on the borders of the republican lake of William 
Tell — in America, which is still more republican, it flourishes 
as an imperishable plant, nourished by the juices of earth, 
and refreshed by the waters of heaven. It is not a local, 
but a universal religion."f So far back as the fifth cen- 
tury, the same was observed by St. Augustin, who likewise 
declares the support which the Church lends to every law- 
ful authority : " This heavenly society," he says, " does not 
hesitate to obey the laws of the temporal powers which 

regulate the things appertaining to our mortal life 

Whilst sojourning on earth, the Church gathers her citizens 
from all nations, and forms her pilgrim host of men of every 
tongue. She cares not for the diversity of laws and usages 
which are directed to the attainment or maintenance of peace : 
she annuls or destroys none of them, but, on the contrary, she 
adopts and observes them ; since, although they differ in va- 
rious nations, they are all directed to one and the same end, 
namely, public order and tranquillity, provided they do not 
clash with religion, which teaches us to worship the one su- 
preme and true God."J 

The alleged or real abuses of papal power form no just 
ground of objection to its admission, since every divine insti- 
tution is liable to be abused by human frailty. The inquirer 
after truth should not allow his mind to be pre-occupied with 
frightful images of the horrors committed by popes, either in 
their public administration or in their private conduct : he 
should first of all examine whether their authority is from 
Christ. On calm investigation, he will find that the grossest 
exaggerations have been indulged in by their adversaries, 
whilst the benefits which they bestowed on the Christian 
world have been kept out of view. The contributions, which 
under the name of Peter's pence, or on any other score, were 
made for the support of the pontifical government, have been 
designated extortions; and the unbounded charities of the 

* History of the Popes, vol. i., 1. vi., § L, p. 407. 

f Histoire de la Royaute par le Cte Alexis de Saint Priest, 1. ii., p. 92. 
J De civ. Dei, L xix., c. xvii. 



NATURE OF THE PRIMACY. 



2? 



popes, and their immense expenses for the general interest of 
Christendom, have been forgotten. The civil commotions and 
wars which have sometimes followed the exercise of papal 
power, have been represented as its necessary results, whilst 
the enormity of the evils which the pontiffs sought to remedy 
is lost sight of, and the criminality of the immediate actors is 
apparently unnoticed. In investigating the fact whether 
Christ has left a ruler of His Church on earth, we should con- 
fine ourselves to scriptural testimonies, and to the monuments 
of Christian antiquity. Let these be consulted, and there can 
be no doubt that the issue will be entire conviction of the di- 
vine institution of the primacy. The importance of the in- 
vestigation is deeply felt at this day by the many estimable 
individuals, who, with anxious minds, are struggling to disen- 
thral themselves from error and schism, among whom Mr. Al- 
lies admits that the whole question now " turns upon the pa- 
pal supremacy, as at present claimed, being of divine right or 
not. If it be, then have we nothing else to do, on peril of our 
salvation, but submit ourselves to the authority of Rome."* 

* The Church of England Cleared from the Charge of Schism. Adver- 
tisement. 



CHAPTER II. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



Our Divine Redeemer was wont to prepare men for His chief 
institutions by a previous declaration of His intentions. Be- 
fore He made a formal promise to bestow the power of ruling 
His Church, He changed the name of the disciple whom he had 
chosen to exercise it, and subsequently he declared the import 
of the name, and the authority of the office. When Simon was 
presented to Him by his brother Andrew, He called him Ce- 
phas,* a Syro-chaldaic term, equivalent to the Greek nerpas 
that is, Peter, which signifies Rock. Andrew "brought him to 
Jesus, and Jesus looking upon him, said : Thou art Simon the 
son of Jona : thou shalt be called Cephas : which is interpre- 
ted Peter."f It does not appear that our Lord at that time 
declared the reason why He so called him : which, however, 
he afterwards most emphatically signified. Although his bro- 
ther had the happiness of discovering Christ before him, Peter 
soon enjoyed a marked precedency, so as to be designated the 
first by the evangelist St. Matthew in the enumeration of the 
apostles. 

" Now the names of the twelve apostles are these : The 
first Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother."J 
Then follow the names of the others, and their commission to 
preach to the lost sheep of the house of Israel is recorded. We 
are naturally led to consider in what sense Peter is called the 
first : o Trparos ; whether merely as occurring first to the memory 
of the sacred writer on this occasion ; or because he was 
leader and head of the others. The first supposition is exclud- 
ed by the very remark that he was the first, which would 

* It is pronounced in Syriac Kipha, or Kipho : in Chaldaic it is EpD» in 
Hebrew £p. 

f John i. 42. % Mat. x. 2. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



be- 



have been superfluous, if only the order of registering the 
names, in this instance, were meant, especially since the others 
have no number attached to them. Besides, the custom of all 
the evangelists, who invariably place the name of Peter first, 
proves that this place was assigned to him for a special rea- 
son, since the names of the rest are put in various order, with 
the exception of Judas, who, on account of his perfidy, is al- 
ways placed last. We cannot suppose that Peter is put first 
on account of the excellence of his personal qualities, when we 
remember his weakness in the hour of temptation. He is first 
evidently as leader and head. Whilst our Lord was on earth. 
He alone was head of His Church, and Peter, although he 
was leader, had not authority over his brethren. At that time 
his precedency was rather of order, or rank, than of jurisdic- 
tion and government ; but it was wisely so ordained, that by 
this position he might be prepared for the high office to which 
he was to be elevated. In this sense the observation of Bar- 
row may be admitted : " Constantly in all the catalogues of 
the apostles, St. Peter's name is set in the front ; and when ac- 
tions are reported in which he was concerned jointly with 
others, he is usually mentioned first, which seemeth not done with- 
out careful design, or special reason. Upon such grounds it may 
be reasonable to allow St. Peter a primacy of order."* I can- 
not, however, agree with him that this primacy was " such a 
one as the ringleader hath in a dance ! " Neither can I admit 
that primatial authority was not afterwards conferred on him, 
since this is affirmed not on the mere ground of this order of 
names, which, however, furnishes no slight presumptive evi- 
dence, but on strong and positive testimonies of Scripture - 

In the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew, we learn that 
" Jesus came into the confines of Cesarea Philippi : and He 
asked His disciples saying : Who do men say that the Son of 
Man is ? And they said : Some John the Baptist, and others 
Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Our Lord's 
interrogation was not an idle inquiry, proceeding from curiosi- 
ty to ascertain the current opinions of men, for Jesus " knew 
all men," and " He needed not that any man should give testi- 
mony of man : for He knew what was in man."f He asks, in 

* A Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy, by Isaac Barrow, D.D., Supposi- 
tion 1, n. 5. 
t John ii. 24. 



2(3 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



order to afford an opportunity to Simon to state the various 
human conjectures that were prevalent concerning His person, 
and to declare aloud his own faith. 

On the question being put as to the belief of the apostles 
themselves, concerning him, Peter answered without hesita- 
tion : " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." This 
explicit declaration of the divinity of Jesus was followed 
by a confirmation on His part of the name previously given 
to Simon, and by the exposition of its mysterious meaning, and 
of the high office with which it was connected: "Jesus an- 
swering said to him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona : be- 
cause flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Fa- 
ther who is in heaven. And I say to thee, that thou art Peter, 
and upon this" rock I will build My Church ; and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind 
upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven : and whatsoever 
thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. ,,# 
Never was the language of Christ more clear and emphatic. 
Simon confessed Him to be the Son of God, not in the general 
sense of this appellation, as given to every just man, for this 
would have called forth no extraordinary praise, but as the 
true and natural Son of His Eternal Father, by a communica- 
tion to Him of the Divine Nature, by an ineffable generation. 
Jesus declares Simon blessed for this profession of faith in His 
divinity, since, not mortal man could have suggested or in- 
spired it, but God alone. Thus endowed by the Father with 
divine faith in the Son of God incarnate, Simon becomes a fit 
instrument in the hands of Christ for the building of His Church, 
a secure foundation whereon it may rest. His name is con- 
firmed : " I say to thee, that thou art Peter." As Jacob was 
called Israel, because in the mysterious conflict he prevailed 
over the angel of God ;— as Abram was called Abraham, be- 
cause chosen to be the father of a countless multitude ; — so 
Simon is called Cephas, or Peter, because made by divine 
grace, a rock of faith. Nor is the firmness of his faith a mere 
personal endowment ; he is to become the foundation-stone of 
the Church of Christ : " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I 
will build My Church : " that is : thou art a rock, and upon this 



* Mat. xvi. 15—20. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



27 



rock I will build my Church.* The strength of this rock, — its 
immovable firmness— is declared by the impregnable charac- 
ter of the Church which is to be built on it : " the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it." Because Christ builds on a rock, 
the powers of darkness cannot overcome His Church. He is 
the wise man, who chooses a solid foundation for His building. 
" The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and 
they beat upon that house, and it fell not ; for it was founded 
upon a rock."f The strength of the building is ascribed to the 
solidity of the foundation. Christ, in choosing Simon for the 
foundation of His Church, gives him strength and firmness, 
by which the building itself is made secure. Peter becomes 
the support of the Church, which, like a strong fortress, is in 
vain assailed by adverse powers. Such is the import of the 
name given by Christ to Simon ; such is the close and neces- 
sary relation of Peter to the Church. 

Some who seek to elude the obvious force of the language 
of our Saviour, contend that Peter is called a rock for the firm- 
ness of his personal faith, and is spoken of as the foundation 
of the Church, because he was the first to profess the divinity 
of Christ, and because all who thenceforward acknowledged 
the same truth, were added to and built on him as a founda- 
tion. This, however, by no means corresponds with the words 
of our Redeemer. Peter is called a rock, not as professor 
of the faith, but to reward him. Because he has made this 
divinely-inspired profession, Christ declares that he is a rock 
on which He will build His Church. It is fair to give to a 
figurative expression the force which its use by the same wri- 
ter, or speaker, authorizes. Our Lord having used the simili- 
tude of a house built on a rock, to illustrate the wisdom of the 
man who builds his hopes of salvation on the practice of the 
divine lessons, as on a solid foundation, we must regard the 
rock as the image of the solidity and strength of the founda- 
tion, rather than as expressive of a mere commencement. 
The unfailing support of the building is the idea which the 
rock suggests. 

* In English, the force of the allusion is not perceived, but in French it is 
preserved : " Tu es Pierre, et sur cette pierre je batirai mon eglise." The 
Greek, Latin, Italian, and Spanish, imperfectly exhibit it. The German, as 
well as the English, conceals it. 

t Mat. vii. 25. 



28 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



This observation equally shows the futility of the attempt to 
explain this figure as employed merely to mark the instrumen- 
tality of Peter in admitting Jews and Gentiles to the Church, 
by proclaiming the resurrection to the assembled multitude on 
the day of Pentecost, and exhorting them to receive baptism, 
and by ordering Cornelius and his family to be baptized.* The 
figure implies more than a commencement. It obviously re- 
presents strength, immobility, and consequent support afforded 
to the building. Peter, as a rock of strength, is placed by the 
Divine Architect in the foundation, in order that the Church 
may stand for ever, despite of the storms of persecution and 
temptation, and of all the assaults of the infernal powers. 

Many, with a triumphant air, affirm that the rock on which 
Christ promised to build His Church is no other than Christ 
Himself, the rock of ages. But they plainly violate all rules 
of just interpretation. Since Cephas signifies rock, and Christ 
says to Simon : " Thou art Cephas, and upon this rock I will 
build My Church ;" the relative leaves no room for ambiguity. 
Besides, there would be a confusion of metaphors and ideas, if 
Christ, the Divine Builder, should, in the same breath, speak of 
Himself as builder and foundation. Both figures may be ap- 
plied to Him separately, under different points of view ; but it 
would be incongruous, not to say absurd, to apply both at one 
and the same time. God is frequently called a rock, on account 
of his insuperable and everlasting power : Christ maybe styled 
the rock of ages, because He is at all times the strength and 
refuge of all who flee to Him. He is the spiritual rock, from 
which the waters of salvation issue, and of which the material 
rock was a type. Thus St. Paul, speaking of the Israelites, 
says, that " they all drank of the spiritual rock that followed 
them, and the rock was Christ ;"f but it is absurd to infer 

* Bishop Pearson says : " It will be necessary to take notice, that our Sa- 
viour, speaking of it {the Church), mentioneth it as that which then was not, 
but afterwards was to be ; as when he spake unto the great Apostle : 
' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church ; ' but when he 
ascended into heaven, and the Holy Ghost came down, when Peter had con- 
verted three thousand souls, which were added to the hundred and twenty 
disciples, then was there a Church (and that built upon Peter, according 
to our Saviour's promise), for after that we read : ' The Lord added to the 
Church daily such as should be saved.' " — Bishop Pearson on the Creed, Ar- 
ticle IX., p. 506. 

j 1 Cor. x. 4. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY, 



hence that the rock spoken of by Christ, when he said : " upon 
this rock I will build My Church/' is Christ Himself !* 

The attempt to explain " this rock " of Christ is by no means 
countenanced by the difference of gender of the words in the 
text : <ru el Uerpo?, xai in) return r% irfapet. Peter is called Herpes, because 
the Greeks never apply a feminine noun to a man, except in 
derision :f the rock is called v-hpa, because this term more pro- 
perly designates a rock, although the other term is equivalent. 
The relative plainly identifies the subject, and excludes all dis- 
tinction, as the language in which our Saviour spoke has the 
same word in both places. J Bloomfield, a recent Anglican com- 
mentator, observes that every modern expositor of note has aban- 
doned the distinction between Peter and rock as untenable. § 
Bishop Marsh, quoted by him, says, that " it would be a despe- 
rate undertaking to prove that Christ meant any other person 

* The rule prescribed by the Protestant critic, Gerard, should here be at- 
tended to, 456 : " Every term should be considered as it stands, in the propo- 
sition of which it makes a part, and explained, not by itself, but so as to bring 
out the real sense of that whole proposition." He shows the violation of this 
rule by an Antinomian, who should understand the rock on which the wise 
man builds his house, Matt. vii. 24, to be Christ, the Rock of Ages. The 
rule is equally violated, when the rock, of which Christ speaks, Matt. xvi. 18, 
is understood to be himself. See Gerard's Institutes, p. 134. 

f Synopsis Critic, in locum. 

| The Syriac version of the New Testament is deservedly of high repute, 
on account of its early date, and of the near affinity between the Syriac lan- 
guage and the Syro-Chaldaic, which our Lord used, and in which, accord- 
ing to the more probable opinion, St. Matthew wrote his Gospel. In this ver- 
sion, the words " Peter " and " Rock " are expressed by the same characters : 

Anath chipha, vehall hada chipha. 

In the Arabic version, which, from its connexion with the language in 
which Christ spoke, is well calculated to elucidate the present subject, we 
read 

Anath alsachra, wahal hada alsachra. 

Another Arabic version translates Peter and Rock by a different word from 
that used in the above quotation, tut in both instances the same word alsa- 
pha, is put for Peter and the rock. 

A most ancient Chaldee manuscript of St. Matthew's Gospel, in the collec- 
tion formerly belonging to Cardinal Barberini, written in characters long ob- 
solete, and professing to have been made in Mesopotamia in the year 330, 
uses but one word to express Peter and the Rock, sciuha. See the learned 
treatise of Ecchelensis, a Maronite, de origine nominis Papa, <SfC, Romae, 
MDCLX. 

§ In locum. 

2 



m 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



than Peter."* Rosenmiiller, the German rationalist, coincides 
in this critical judgment : " The rock," says he, " is neither the 
confession of Peter, nor Christ, pointing out Himself by His 
finger, or by a shake of the head, (which interpretations the 
context does not admit,) but Peter himself. The Lord, speak- 
ing in Syriac,used no diversity of name, but in both places said 
Cephas, as the French word pierre is said both of a proper and 
appellative noun. He pointed out Peter, therefore, either by 
his finger, or nod ; for that gesture suited His purpose, to ex- 
plain the reason of giving him this name. So it is said of 
Abraham : 6 Thy name shall be Abraham, because I have made 
thee father of many nations ; ' of Jacob : * Israel shall be thy 
name, for thou actest as a prince with angels and men.' So 
Christ says : 4 Thou art called by Me Peter, because thou wilt 
be as a rock.' And He promises that He will build His Church 
on Peter. Allusion is made to the custom prevailing in Pales- 
tine, of building houses that are exposed to floods and whirl- 
winds, on a rocky soil, that they may be able to resist the vio- 
lence of waters and winds. Mat. vii. 24, 25. ' Therefore who- 
soever thinks of building a durable house, should above all look 
around for a rock, or firm ground : the rock is the first thing 
whence the work is to be begun.'"f 

In "Gerard's Institutes of Biblical Criticism" is contained 
the following just observation — Canon 511 : "The most ob- 
vious and natural sense is to be set aside only when it is 
absolutely contradictory to something plainly taught in Scrip- 
ture." He then remarks, that " the opposite way has been 
taken by all sects ;" and quoting the 18th verse of the 16th 
chapter of St. Matthew, observes : " Building on Peter, is 
explained, by some, as contrary to the faith that Christ is the 
only foundation (1 Cor. iii. 2), and as favoring the succession 
of Peter and his successors ; but the connexion shows that 
PETER IS HERE PLAINLY MEANT." Such is the lan- 
guage of this text-book of many Protestant Colleges and Theo- 
logical Institutions, both in this country and in England. 

Mr. Thompson, of Glasgow, in his Monatessaron, on this 
text, gives three interpretations. He thinks the two first un- 
founded, and thus quotes the third : " The third opinion is, 

* Comparative view. A pp., p. 217. 

f Scholia in Novum Test., torn i., p. 336. Norumb. an. 1815. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



31 



that both the words a-er^s and mp* are here used as appella- 
tions of the apostle ; and, consequently, Peter was the rock on 
which Christ said His Church should be built. To this the 
connexion and scope of the passage agree. There seems to 
be something forced in every other construction, and an in- 
aptitude in the language and figure of the text in every at- 
tempt to construct the words otherwise. Protestants have be- 
trayed unnecessary fears, and have, therefore, used all the 
HARDIHOOD of LAWLESS CRITICISM in their attempts 
to reason away the Catholic interpretation." # This perver- 
sion of Scripture, to suit party purposes, is deeply to be de- 
plored. Those who have made the humiliating acknowledg- 
ments which I have placed under the eyes of the reader, 
have not failed to torture the text after their own fashion, 
to eschew the consequences of their involuntary concessions. 

The apostle, addressing the Corinthians whom he had 
brought to the knowledge of Christian faith, says : " You are 
God's building. According to the grace of God that is given 
me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, and another 
buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he build- 
eth thereupon. For no man can lay another foundation, but 
that which is laid — which is Christ Jesus."f These words are 
often alleged to show that Christ Himself is the fundamental 
rock on which the Church is built : but the meaning of the 
apostle manifestly is, that Christ — His doctrine and law — His 
atonement and grace — are the only foundation on which our 
hopes for salvation can rest ; nor is there salvation in any other ; 
for "there is no other name under heaven given to men 
whereby we must be saved."J This does not exclude the re- 
lation of Peter to the Church as established by Christ Himself, 
since he is the rock placed by the hands of the Divine Archi- 
tect, from whom his strength is wholly derived. It would in- 
deed be impious to call Peter the foundation, independently of 
Christ : his office being merely ministerial and instrumental. 
The faithful are said to be " built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief 
corner-stone."§ Thus it is clear that the apostles and pro- 
phets may be represented under the image of the foundation, 



* Bait, edit., p. 194. 
X Acts iv. 12. 



f 1 Cor. iii. 9. 
§ Eph. ii. 20. 



82 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



without any disparagement of the authority of Christ, since 
the preaching of the apostles and the predictions of the pro- 
phets lead men to Him. They are ministers, agents, heralds 
of the Great King. So may the term be applied to Peter in a 
special sense, as being His chief minister and representative, 
without detracting from His sovereignty. Bloomfield avows 
that the expression as applied to Peter is easily reconcilable 
with the application of it to Christ, " since the two expressions 
are employed in two very different senses."* St. Leo, the 
Great, who filled the chair of St. Peter in the middle of the 
fifth century, beautifully exhibits the harmony of the sac ed 
texts, whilst he paraphrases the address of Christ to Peter : 
" As My Father has manifested My divinity to thee, I make 
known to thee thy excellency : for thou art Peter, that is, as I 
am the inviolable rock, the corner-stone, who make both one, 
the foundation other than that which no one can lay — never- 
theless, thou art also a Rock, because thou art strengthened 
by My power, so that those things which belong to Me by na- 
ture, are common to thee with Me by participation."! 

The figure of the keys of the kingdom, which our Lord adds, 
confirms and developes the idea of power and authority con- 
tained in the preceding metaphor : " I will give to thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt 
bind on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatso- 
ever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." 
The keys are the known symbol of authority. Of Eliacim, 
who was to be substituted to Sobna in the high priesthood, it 
is said : " I will lay the key of the house of David upon his 
shoulder ; and he shall open, and none shall shut ; and he shall 
shut, and none shall open." J The key was hung on the shoul- 
der in token of power, on which account it is said of Christ : 
" the government is upon his shoulder."§ Potter, Protestant 
Archbishop of Canterbury, says : "Our Lord received from God 
the keys of heaven ; and by virtue of this grant, had power to 
remit sins on earth : the same keys, with the power which ac- 
companied them, were first promised to Peter, as the foreman 
of the apostolic college."|| Since our Lord communicated to 

* In Mat. xvi. 18, 19. 

f Serm. iv. de assumpt. sua ad Pontificatum. 
J^Isaiah xxii. 22. § lb. ix. 6. 

|| On Church Government, p. 60. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



S3 



Peter the keys which He Himself received from the Father, 
supreme power was clearly delegated by Him, as may be ga- 
thered from the same writer. " Our blessed Lord, as the king 
of this household, who has the supreme power to admit and 
exclude whomsoever He pleaseth, is said to have the keys of 
David. The supreme power of the keys, that is, the authority 
of admitting and excluding belongs to Christ, the King ; but 
the same is exercised by His apostles and their successors, 
whom He has appointed to govern the Church, as His stewards, 
or vicegerents."* The force of the symbol is here admitted, 
although an attempt is vainly made to render common to all 
the apostles the power which was distinctly given to Peter 
alone : " I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of hea- 
ven."! In the New Testament the kingdom of heaven gene- 
rally denotes the Church of Christ, which is heavenly in its 
principles and tendency. To give the keys of this kingdom is 
to communicate supreme power — to make Peter his special 
vicegerent. To loose and to bind is the exercise of that power, 
but the keys signify a pre-eminent power of binding and loos- 
ing. The remission of sins or their retention may be effected 
in virtue of this authority, but other acts likewise are included 
in this broad commission. To resolve the difficulties of the 
law, and decide religious controversies, to enact laws binding 
the members of the Church, and to dispense from their obser- 
vance, to inflict censures on the refractory, and release the 
penitent from their bonds, may all be signified by these terms. 
A similar power of binding and loosing was afterwards pro- 
mised to all the apostles ; but not without special design it was 
promised to Peter first, and alone, that his high authority might 
be manifested. 

The sublime promises are not weakened by the rebuke 
given on the same occasion to Peter, for opposing the divine 
counsels. Our Lord charged His disciples to tell no one that 
He was the Christ ; and in order to check excessive exulta- 
tion, He disclosed to them His approaching death : but Peter 

* On Church Government, p. 300. 

f " As to the expression ' the keys,' it may also refer to the power and au- 
thority for the said work ; especially as a key was anciently an usual symbol 
of authority, and presenting with a key was a -common form of investing with 
authority, insomuch that it was afterwards worn as a badge of office." — 
Bloomfield. In locum. 



34 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY, 



could not bear the thought of the sufferings of his Divine 
Master : " Lord, (he said,) be it far from thee : this shall 
not be unto thee. But He, turning, said to Peter: Go 
after me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto me : because 
thou dost not relish the things that are of God, but the 
things that are of men." * By this severe reproof, our 
Lord would teach us that the humiliating mystery of His 
sufferings must be adored with the same faith where- 
with His glory is believed. Simon was blessed in the 
divinely-inspired faith wherewith he acknowledged Christ 
to be the Son of God ; but he became a Satan, that is» 
according to the literal force of the term, an adversary, 
when he opposed the divine counsel for the redemption of 
mankind by the sufferings and death of his Lord. The 
promise made to him was not recalled, although his earthly 
views were corrected and reproved. The enemies of the 
primacy have, however, availed themselves of the popular ac- 
ceptation of the term Satan, to obscure the eulogy previously 
pronounced, and the promise made to Peter. Severe as the 
reproof undoubtedly is, it does not suppose any sin on the part 
of the apostle, but a human error of judgment, proceeding 
from the ardor of his affection, and deriving a coloring of 
truth from his faith in the divinity of Christ. 

In the solemn circumstance of the approaching passion of 
Christ, the apostles did not cease to indulge the petty rivalry 
and jealousy which during their attendance on Him they 
had often manifested. He had had occasion more than once 
io rebuke them for their disputes about superiority, and yet 
they were still contending which of them was greatest. The 
many marks of His special favor to Peter, the position of 
leader which this apostle uniformly occupied, and the pro- 
mise made to him especially, seemed to leave no room for 
doubting ; but the tender love shown to John, and the kind- 
ness and affection exhibited to all, led them to question, 
whether the actual headship of Peter, or the promised of- 
fice, rendered him absolutely greater than his brethren. 
Christ had, on a former occasion, brought forward a child 
to insinuate humility, and stimulate the apostles to its ex- 
ercise by the hope of heavenly exaltation ; f in this instance 



* Mat. xvi. 22, 



f Luke ix. 48. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



35 



He contrasts the spirit which should animate them with the 
domineering pride of earthly princes, and offers Himself as the 
model which they should copy. " The kings of the Gentiles 
lord it over them, and they that have power over them, are 
called beneficent. But you not so : but he who is the greatest 
among you, let him be as the least : and he that is the leader, 
as he that serveth. For which is greater, he that sitteth at 
table, or he that serveth ? Is not he that sitteth at table ? but 
I am in the midst of you as he that serveth." * He will not 
have them act in the lordly spirit of the rulers of this world, 
or content themselves with flattering titles. The difference 
of rank among them He plainly recognises ; but He wishes the 
greatest to sustain his dignity by the humility of his deport- 
ment, even as He had condescended to act as their servant. 
He then proceeds to intimate the high dignity of all, but He 
marks in express terms the special duty and prerogative of 
Peter. " You are they who have continued with Me in My 
temptations : And I dispose f to you, as My Father hath dis- 
posed to me, a kingdom. That you may eat and drink at 
My table, and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes 
of Israel." Thus, in return for their fidelity and attachment, 
He bestows on them a kingdom, even as His Father had 
made Him King. His kingdom is not, indeed, of this world, 
but of a far sublimer order, according to which the apostles 
are made priests and kings to their God, partaking of the mys- 
terious banquet, and sitting on thrones of judgment. These 
honors are common to all: to Peter peculiar privileges are 
promised. Satan sought to overthrow their thrones and 
altars, to sift them, even as the wheat is winnowed, and 
to cast them as chaff to the wind. In the impenetrable 
but just counsels of the Deity, he is suffered to accomplish 
his wishes in some degree : but Christ interposes with His 
Father to rescue the throne of Peter, and through him to 
secure all from ruin. " And the Lord said : Simon, Simon, be- 
hold, Satan hath desired to have you,J that he may sift you as 

* Luke xxii. 25—28. See also Mat. xx. 25. 
f Assign, or grant. 

X vfxas. The English reader, accustomed to the use of the plural pronoun 
for the singular, is apt not to advert to its force here as embracing all the 
apostles. 



PROMISE OF THE PRIMACY. 



wheat : but I have prayed for thee # that thy faith fail not : 

AND THOU, BEING ONCE CONVERTED, CONFIRM THY BRETHREN." f 

He had just spoken of the kingdom and thrones of the 
apostles : He now discloses the dark designs of hell 
against them: and addressing Peter especially, emphati- 
cally assures him that He had prayed for him in particu- 
lar, that his faith might not fail. Against him the powers 
of hell shall not prevail, as they cannot prevail against 
the Church founded on him. A moment afterwards, He 
foretells his fall; but His prayer is specially offered up 
for him, as the head of his brethren, whom He charges 
him to confirm in that faith which cannot fail. 

The subsequent fall of Peter is often objected as a proof 
that he was not the head of the Church ; which is true of 
that time, since although the promise of Christ had been 
made, and His prayer offered up, the office of chief pastor 
had not yet been conferred. It was only after His resur- 
rection that our Lord, being about to withdraw His visi- 
ble presence, gave to Peter the charge of His lambs and 
sheep. The weakness of one chosen for so high an office, must 
teach us not to regard in the ministers of Christ, especially in 
His Vicar, their individual qualities, but the divine authority 
which they exercise, that our trust may be not in man, but in 
God. Divine mercy pardoned Peter the base denial of His 
Master : divine goodness raised him to the highest dig- 
nity: divine power was employed to endow him, a frail 
and sinful man, with an immovable firmness in faith, 
that like a rock he might support the everlasting fabric of 
the Church. 



* Special prayer was offered for Peter. f Luke xxii. 31, 32. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE, 



The ancient writers of the Church, who are styled Fa- 
thers, are deservedly regarded with veneration for their 
piety, learning, and zeal. From an early period of the 
revolutionary career of Luther, he professed an utter disre- 
gard for their opinions ; in which respect he has been fol- 
lowed by almost all the sectaries of the sixteenth and suc- 
ceeding centuries : but " the Church of England " professed a 
high veneration for them, notwithstanding the efforts of 
Middleton and others to lessen their authority. At the pre- 
sent day, they are looked up to with increased reverence, es- 
pecially by those who participate in the sentiments of Dr. 
Pusey, whilst they are necessarily depreciated by such 
Protestants as wish to retain an appearance of consistency. 
In the Catholic Church, the unanimous testimony of the 
fathers, in favor of a doctrine, is conclusive evidence of 
divine tradition ; and their concordant exposition of a text of 
Scripture, is a certain guide to its true meaning : but their in- 
dividual opinions, however worthy of respectful consideration, 
impose no restraint on our judgment, unless the Church add 
the seal of her adoption. Their interpretation of Scripture is 
often loose and indefinite : since where the literal meaning 
was obvious and well known to all, they frequently had re- 
course to moral applications, or allegorical expositions, exer- 
cising considerable ingenuity in applying the divine words to 
matters of daily practice, or endeavoring to discover, under the 
surface of the letter, some reference or allusion to the great 
mysteries which are elsewhere explicitly propounded. This, 
however, should give greater weight to their testimony, when 
they professedly declare the literal meaning of the sacred text, 
especially in matters which were exemplified in the govern- 



38 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



ment and public usage of the Church. Consequently, their in- 
terpretation of the promise recorded in Matthew, cannot fail to 
arrest the earnest attention of the reader. 

Tertullian, a priest of the church of Carthage, at the close 
of the second century, is classed among the fathers, although 
by his fall into the errors of Montanus, in the latter part of 
his career, he forfeited the glory which he had acquired by his 
celebrated plea with the heathen magistrates for the Chris- 
tians, and by his immortal work on " Prescriptions against 
Heretics." In this work, whilst refuting the absurd preten- 
sions of the Gnostics, who were not ashamed to boast of 
knowledge superior to that of the apostles, he indignantly 
asks : " Was anything concealed from Peter, who was 

STYLED THE ROCK ON WHICH THE ChURCH WAS TO BE BUILT, WHO 
RECEIVED THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HeAVEN, AND THE POWER 
OF LOOSING AND BINDING IN HeAVEN AND ON EARTH ? " * He 

justly judged that Peter, being constituted by Christ the 
fundamental rock and the ruler of the Church, must have 
been endowed with the most comprehensive knowledge of 
divine things. His exposition is the more forcible, as it is 
not urged with any effort ; but, it is given as the obvious 
meaning which even his adversaries could not question. 

After his fall, the African doctor continued to acknowledge 
Peter to be the rock on which the Church was built ; but as 
the Montanists denied that the Church could pardon the more 
enormous sins, he endeavored to explain the power of binding 
and loosing, of a mere disciplinary exercise of authority in 
external government, or of a judicial decision ; f or otherwise, 
so as to elude the proof drawn from it, of the authority to im- 
part forgiveness to the most heinous sinners, on due mani- 
festation of repentance. Feeling the insecurity of his position 
on these points, he boldly maintained that the power — what- 
ever it might be— was promised to Peter personally — and that 
it did not embrace his successors, or the Church founded by 
him, much less the Universal Church. It is not necessary to 
expose the false and frivolous character of these various ex- 
positions, which were devised for the support of the unrelent- 
ing principles of his sect, especially as they cannot be consist- 
ently advocated by those who, with Pearson and Pusey, admit 



* De Praescr., § xxii. 



fL.de Pudicitia, c. xxi. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE, 39 

the continuance in the Church of the power of forgiveness ; or 
by any who will not blindly adopt mere fanciful interpre- 
tations. The calm judgment of Tertullian, whilst he remain- 
ed united with the Church, must not be set aside on ac- 
count of his subsequent aberrations. 

Early in the third century. Origen, a man of sublime genius 
and vast erudition, taught with great success in the famous 
school of Alexandria; but having given too loose reins to 
his imagination, he hazarded many conjectural expositions 
of Scripture, which drew on him suspicion and censure. 
His allegorical interpretations carry with them no weight ; 
but when he explains the letter of the text, or testifies to 
a fact, he is to be listened to with attention, especially if 
he be found to harmonize with the other fathers. Many 
of his writings have perished, from one of which Eusebius, 
who wrote but a century after his time, has preserved a 
precious extract. The historian being desirous to prove by 
the testimony of the celebrated catechist, the authenticity of 
the first epistle of St. Peter, recites his words, which imply a 
commentary on the promise. " Peter," he says, " on whom 
the Church of Christ is built, against which the gates of 
hell shall not prevail, left one epistle which is generally ad- 
mitted."* This incidental interpretation is the more forcible, 
as it must be deemed the unstudied expression of the convic- 
tion of the writer. 

The liberty which Origen elsewhere takes of applying the 
promise to every believer in Christ, cannot lessen the force of 
this exposition, which is manifestly literal, and is used to dis- 
tinguish Peter from all others ; but his reasoning to prove that 
each of the faithful is insuperable whilst he clings to Christ, 
may be fairly applied to establish the unfailing character of 
the authority of Peter : " for neither against the rock on 
which Christ built His Church, nor against the Church, 
shall the gates of hell PREVAiL."f Heretics in every variety 
of form assail the truth of Christ as taught in the Church, 
and endeavor to overthrow her, but in vain : " Every author 
of a perverse sentiment is a builder of a gate of hell ; but 
many and numberless as are the gates of hell, no gate of hell 
will prevail against the rock, or the Church which Christ 



* L. vi. Hist. Eccl., c, xxi. f In Matt., t, xii., p. 518. 



40 THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 

builds upon the rock." # Origen, throughout, insists on the 
immovable nature of the rock, as well as of the Church, so 
as inseparably to connect them. His application of the text 
to every just man is evidently by the way of accommodation, 
since he even denies that it can be applied to each act of 
episcopal authority, unless the bishop be a Peter, namely, firm 
in the conscientious exercise of the power with which he is 
clothed. In its literal acceptation, it must be restricted to 
Peter himself, on whom the Church was built, and to his suc- 
cessors in office. 

St. Cyprian, who filled the see of Carthage in the middle 
of the third century, is justly classed among the most illus- 
trious of the fathers. In his letter to those who had fallen in 
persecution, he rebukes some of them who had presumed 
to address him as if they were the Church, and employs 
for this purpose, the words of the promise, in order to show 
that without the bishop there can be no Church : " Our Lord, 
whose precepts and admonitions we ought to observe, estab- 
lishing the honor of the bishop, and the order of His Church, 
speaks in the Gospel and says to Peter : ' 1 say to thee that 
thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ; and to thee I 
will give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven ; and what- 
soever thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound also in 
Heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be 
loosed also in Heaven.' Thence, through the series of times 
and successions, the order of bishops and the system of the 
Church flow on ; so that the Church is established upon the 
bishops, and every act of the Church is governed by the same 
prelates. Since, then, this is the case, I am surprised that 
some, with audacious temerity, have ventured to write to me 
in the name of the Church, whilst the Church consists of the 
bishop, clergy, and of all the hearers."J Cyprian considers 
Peter in this circumstance as the representative of the Church, 
through whom she speaks and declares her faith. He was 
not bishop at the time when our Lord addressed him, but he 
was destined to be such, as the nature of the episcopal relation 
was insinuated by the figure of the foundation as well as by 



* In Matt., t. xii., p. 522. 
| Ep. de lapsis, xxxiii. 



f Ad plebem, ep. xliii. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE, 



41 



the terms of the promise. In Peter, Bishop of the whole 
Church, the relation of each bishop to his flock was exem- 
plified. In this sense the remark of Mr. Allies may be ad- 
mitted. " It is evident," he says, " that if the see of Peter, so 
often referred to by St. Cyprian, means the local see of Rome, 
it also means the see of every bishop who holds that office ; 
whereof Peter is the great type, example and source."* 
Cyprian, taking the sacred text in its obvious meaning, pointed 
to the principle of unity established in Peter, the representative 
of the whole episcopate, and so applied it to the local bishop. 
It is altogether inconsistent with its manifest import to ex- 
clude its direct application to Peter. Hence he employs this 
text to show that the prevaricators, who were separated by 
their apostacy from himself, could not call themselves the 
Church, which name belongs only to the bishop, clergy and 
faithful. This reasoning implies that Peter is as essential to 
the Church at large, as each local bishop is to his flock ; so that 
it is absurd to apply the term to an acephalous body, from 
which he is excluded. 

Frequent reference to the same text occurs throughout the 
writings of Cyprian. Addressing Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, 
he adverts to the reply of Peter, to the question put by 
our Lord, on occasion of promising to give his flesh to 
eat : " Will you also leave Me ?" and remarks, " Peter, 

ON WHOM THE CHURCH HAD BEEN BUILT BY THE LORD, Speaking 

one for all, and answering in the name of the Church, says, 
Lord, to whom shall we go ? "f In his letter to Florentius, he 
says : " Peter, on whom the Church was to be built, speaks 
there in the name of the Church."J Everywhere Cyprian 
speaks of Peter as the rock on which the Church is built, the 
representative of episcopal power, the organ of the Church, 
and the living personification of the principle of unity. In 
the attempt to support his error that the remission of sins 
could not be effected by baptism administered by heretics, 
Cyprian observes, that the power of forgiving sin was only 
granted to the prelates of the Church, " for to Peter, in the 
first place, on whom the Lord founded the Church, and whence 
He instituted and showed the origin of unity, He gave this 

* Church of England, &c, p. 31. ' t Ep. lv. ad Cornelium, 
% Ep. lxix. ad Florentium. 



42 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



power, that whatsoever He had loosed on earth should be 
loosed also in heaven. And after His resurrection, He speaks 
likewise to the apostles, saying : As the Father hath sent Me," 
&c. # Although he makes a wrong inference from the pre- 
mises, in opposition to the decree of the successor of Peter, 
this, far from weakening, strengthens considerably his testi- 
mony to the power, as promised first to Peter especially, that 
the unity of the episcopate and Church might be maintained. 

Cautioning the faithful against the false indulgence of 
schismatical priests, who proffered communion to apostates, 
contrary to the enactments made by the African bishops, he 
says : " There is one God, and one Church, and one chair, 

FOUNDED BY THE VOICE OF THE LoRD UPON PeTER. That any 

other altar be erected, or a new priesthood established, besides 
that one altar and one priesthood, is impossible. Whosoever 
gathers elsewhere, scatters. Whatever is devised by human 
frenzy, in violation of the divine ordinance, is adulterous, im- 
pious, sacrilegious/'f 

The name of St. James, Bishop of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, 
is not so well known among us as that of the great bishop of 
Carthage ; but it is illustrious in the annals of the Church 
of Syria, which venerates him as one of her greatest doctors. 
He proved the strength of his faith by his fearless confession 
of it, in the persecution of Maximin, and he was one of the 
fathers who bore testimony to the divinity of Christ in the great 
Council of Nice. We have but a small remnant of his works, 
in which, however, this passage is found : " Simon, who was 
called the rock on account of his faith, was justly styled rock." J 

St. Cyril, raised to the see of Jerusalem in the year 340, 
shed a bright lustre of learning and sanctity around him, 
which is still reflected in his most precious writings. His 
discourses delivered to catechumens, and to neophytes, con- 
tain numerous passages expressive of the meaning of the 
texts regarding Peter ; and the incidental character of the 
exposition shows that they were thus generally understood. 
Speaking of the confession of the divinity of Christ by Peter, 
and of the keys bestowed in recompense of it, he plainly re- 
cognises the high privileges and station of this apostle : " All 

* Ep. ad Jubajanum, Ixxiii., n. 7. f Ad piebem s ej>„ xliii. 
| Apud Galland.j t, v., p. 3, n. 13. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



48 



of them," he says, " remaining silent, for the doctrine was 
beyond the reach of man, Peter, the prince of the apostles 
and the supreme herald of the Church, not following his own 
inventions, nor persuaded by human reasoning, but enlighten- 
ed in his mind by the Father, says to Him : ' Thou art Christ,' 
not simply this, but the 4 Son of the living God.' " * The high 
prerogatives of Peter are affirmed by Cyril in his comparison 
of the apostles with the prophets. " Be not ashamed of thy 
apostles," he says to each Christian ; " they are not inferior 
to Moses, nor second to the prophets, but they are as good as 
the good, and better than the good : for Elias was taken up 
into heaven, but Peter has the keys of the kingdom of heaven, 
since he heard : ' whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall 
be loosed in heaven.' "f He relates the wonderful overthrow 
of Simon Magus at Rome by Peter, and to render it credible, 
he dwells on the extraordinary powers with which the apostle 
was clothed : " Let it not appear wonderful," he cries, " how- 
ever wonderful it be in itself ; for Peter was he who carried 
around the keys of heaven." J Again he says elsewhere : 
" In the same power of the Holy Ghost, Peter, also the prince 
of the apostles, and the key-bearer of the kingdom of hea- 
ven, cured iEneas, a palsied man, in the name of Christ, at 
Lydda, now called Diospolis."§ Explaining the article of 
the creed : " I believe in the Holy Catholic Church," he says : 
w She is also styled a Church, or convocation, on account of 
the calling and assembling of all in her. The Psalmist says : 
1 1 will confess to Thee in the great Church ; I will praise Thee 
in the numerous people.' Before, it was sung in the Psalms : 
' In the churches bless ye the Lord God from the fountains of 
Israel :' but after the Jews fell from grace, in consequence of 
the snares laid for the Saviour, He instituted another society, 
formed of the Gentiles, our holy Christian Church ; of which 
he said to Peter : ' On this rock I will build My Church, and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' " || These testi- 
monies to the high prerogatives of Peter, and his relation to 
the Church, show the ancient faith and tradition of the 



* Cat. xi., $ 1. n*Vpo£ 6 7tpato(rtd'tij$ fav arto<st6%uv, xai f^j ixxtyaias xopv 

f Cat. xiv. J n?pti|>s'pw»/. Cat, vi, 

§ Cat. xviL || Cat. xviii, 



44 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



see of Jerusalem on these important points, whilst they ex- 
hibit the received exposition of the sacred text. 

St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Cesarea, is another il- 
lustrious witness of the faith of the eastern churches in the 
fourth century, as handed down from the beginning. He calls 
Peter the blessed one, who was preferred to the other 
disciples, who alone received a testimony above all the 
others, and who was pronounced blessed, rather than all the 
others, and to whom the keys of the heavenly kingdom 
were entrusted."* He says that " on account of the excel- 
lence of his faith, he received on himself the building of the 
Church."f These passages clearly show that he acknow- 
ledged Peter to be the foundation of the Church, and its ruler, 
entrusted by Christ with governing authority. ' Similar is the 
language of his brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa, who says : 
" The memory of Peter, who is the head of the apostles, and 
together with him the other members of the Church are glori- 
fied ; but the Church of God is rendered solid in him : for he, 
according to the prerogative granted him by God, is the firm 
and most solid rock on which the Saviour built His Church."J 

St. Gregory of Nazianzum, the friend of Bazil, says : " Do 
you see that among the disciples of Christ, all of whom were 
sublime and worthy of their election, one is called a rock, 
and is entrusted with the foundations of the Church ; an- 
other is loved more, and rests on the breast of Jesus ; and the 
others bear patiently the preference ?"§ He calls him " the 
support of the Church,"|| " the most honored of the disciples.''^ 

St. Chrysostom, who flourished in the fourth century, and 
who is celebrated for his literal exposition of the sacred Scrip- 
tures, abounds in passages declaratory of the prerogatives of 
Peter. In reference to the question put by our Saviour to the 
apostles, as to whom they believed Him to be, he asks, " How 
does Peter act, the mouth of all the apostles, the summit of 
the whole college ? All were interrogated, he alone answers. 
What then does Christ say : ' Thou art Simon, the son of Jo- 
nas, thou shalt be called Cephas ; for since thou hast pro- 
claimed My Father, I also mention him who begot thee.' But 

* Procem. de judicio Dei. f Adv. Eunom., 1. 11. 

J S. Greg. Nyss. laudatio altera S. Steph., protom. 

§ Or. xxvi. 6 (xsv 7titpa xoXsltav, xai t?6v$ 6s(jtsfaov$ tqs Exxhqalas jturtevefou. 
jj Apolog. ad Patrem Orat. vii. % Orat. ix. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



46 



since he had said, ' Thou art the Son of God,' in order to show 
that He was the Son of God as he was son of Jona, namely, 
of the same substance with His Father, He added, 1 and I say 
to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My 
Church ;' that is, upon the faith which thou hast confessed."* 
The Church is said to be built on the faith which Peter pro- 
fessed in the divinity of Christ, because this mystery is the 
foundation of the whole Christian economy. As Chrysostom, 
in the exposition of this text, had the Arians specially in view, 
whose heresy was so widely spread, he insists particularly on 
the contrary truth as fundamental and essential. He does 
not, however, regard this faith as a mere abstraction, but con-* 
siders it as professed by Peter, on whom, he repeatedly affirms, 
that the Church is built ; so that when he says that the Church 
is built on the faith which Peter confessed, he plainly means, 
on Peter confessing this faitK. Accordingly, he proceeds to 
explain the prediction of our Lord as pointing to a number- 
less multitude of believers, who, under the pastoral govern- 
ment of Peter, would profess the same mystery. " Here He 
manifestly foretold that the multitude of believers would be 
great, and He elevates the thoughts of Peter, and makes him 
the pastor. ' And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
If they shall not prevail against it, — much less shall they pre- 
vail against Me Then he adds another prerogative : 

1 And to thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven/ 
What means, — * I will give to thee V As the Father has given 
to thee the knowledge of Me, so I will give to thee. And He 
did not say : I will ask the Father to give thee : but, though 
the power was great, and the greatness of the gift ineffable, 
nevertheless, He says, 4 1 will give thee.' What, I pray, dost 
Thou give ? ' The keys,' He says, ' of the kingdom of heaven, 
that whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound 
also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, 
shall be loosed also in heaven.' How then is it not belonging 
to Him who says — * I will give to thee,' — to grant also to sit 
on the right hand and on the left ? You perceive how He 
leads Peter to a sublime idea of Himself, and rev; a 1 ?, and 
shows Himself to be the Son of God by these two premises. 
For what God alone can grant, namely, to remit sins, and to 

* 1v\ riiatsv 17$ 6fio%oyCa$. 
3 



46 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



make the Church immovable amidst the swelling surges, and 
to render a fisherman stronger than any rock, whilst the whole 
world wars against him, He promises that He will grant. 
Thus the Father also said to Jeremiah : * I have made thee a 
pillar of iron, and a wall of brass.' But the Father set him 
over one nation : HE PLACED THIS MAN OVER THE 
ENTIRE WORLD.* Wherefore, I would willingly ask those 
who say that the dignity of the Son is less than that of the 
Father, which gifts appear to them greater, those which the 
Father, or those which the Son granted to Peter ? The Father 
made to him the revelation of His Son ; but the Son spread 
everywhere throughout the world the revelation both of the 
Father and of the Son ; and to a mortal man gave the power 
of all things in heaven, giving him the keys. He spread 
the Church throughout the entire world, and showed that it is 
stronger than the firmament : ' for heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but My words shall not pass away.' How is He infe- 
rior, who granted all these things — who accomplished these 
things ? I do not speak thus as if separating the works of the 
Father from those of the Son : ' for all things were made by 
Him, and without Him was made nothing : ' but I speak with 
a view to silence the shameless tongues of those who utter 
such things. See in all these things, how great is His power. 
4 1 say to thee, thou art Peter ; I will build My Church ; I will 
give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' "f Thus 
Chrysostom proved that Christ is truly God, equal to the 
Father, because He gave to Peter powers which God alone 
could grant, and rendered the Church, of which he is pastor, 
impregnable and indefectible. 

In answer to an objection against the divinity of Christ? 
taken from His having prayed for Peter that his faith might 
not fail, he observes, that as His passion was approaching, it 
was fit that He should manifest His human nature by the hu- 
mility of prayer ; but he points to the promise of the keys as 
made without any previous prayer, which shows that He had 
all things at His disposal. " As He is going to suffer, He 
speaks humbly to show that He was man, for He, who built 
the Church on the confession of Peter, and so strengthened 
her that no danger, nor death itself, can vanquish her, — He 



f S. Chrys., horn. lv., in Matt. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



47 



who gave to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and en- 
trusted him with so great power, without at all needing to pray 
for this purpose, how much less should He need it in this cir- 
cumstance ! For He did not say, I have prayed, but he spoke 
with authority : I will build on thee My Church, and give to 

THEE THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN."* 

In his panegyric on the martyr Ignatius, who was Bishop 
of Antioch, where Peter had for a time resided, Chrysostom 
dwells on the great honor thus bestowed by God on that city : 
" for He set over it Peter, the doctor of the whole world, to 
whom He gave the keys of heaven, to whose will and power 
He entrusted all things."")* Panegyrizing both the apostles 
Peter and Paul, he thus carefully distinguishes the high pre- 
rogatives of Peter : — " Peter the leader of the apostles, Peter 
the commencement of the orthodox faith, — the great and il- 
lustrious priest of the Church, — the necessary counsellor of 
Christians, the depositary of supernal powers, — the apostle 
honored by the Lord. What shall we say of Peter ? the de- 
lightful spectacle of the Church ; the splendor of the entire 
world, the most chaste dove, the teacher of the apostles, the 
ardent apostle, fervent in spirit, angel and man, full of grace, 
the firm rock of faith, the mature wisdom of the Church, who, 
on account of his purity, from the mouth of the Lord heard 
himself styled blessed and son of the dove : who received from 
the Lord Himself the keys of the kingdom of heaven. — Re- 
joice, O Peter, rock of faith ! "J This is, indeed, the language 
of panegyric : but it would have been utterly unwarrantable, 
if Peter were not in fact the necessary counsellor of Chris- 
tians, the teacher of the apostles, the rock of faith. It is not 
only when expressly engaged in panegyric that Chrysostom 

* Horn, lxxxii., alias lxxxiii., in Mat. 

f In S. Ignat. M. Barrow admits " the titles and eulogies given to St. Peter 
by the fathers ; who call him t%apz ov ( tne prince), xopvtycuov (the ring-leader), 
xspa%qv (the head), rtposSpov (the president), apxrjybv (the captain), npor^yopov 
(the prolocutor), Ttpu-togatr^ (the foreman), jtpo^dtrjv (the warden), ixxpitov 
tutv AitoG'to'Kuv (the choice or egregious apostle), majorem (the greater or gran- 
dee among them), primum (the first or prime apostle)." — A Treatise of the 
Pope's Supremacy, Sup. i., § vi. 

I In SS. Petrum et Paulum. Tom. v., p. 690. This oration, with another, 
was first edited, at Rome, by Gerard Voscius, in the year 1580, in the origi- 
nal Greek, with a Latin translation. I quote from the translation published 
in Paris in 1687. 



48 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



thus speaks of Peter. They are his favorite expressions, which 
everywhere occur in his writings : " Peter," says he, " is the 
basis of the Church, — the fisherman who cast his net into the 
sea, and caught in it the whole world.* — He left his ship, and 
undertook the government of the Church ; he was called the 
key-bearer of the kingdom of heaven.f — He was the chief 
who occupied the first place, and to whom the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven were entrusted."! — He was " the pillar of 
the Church, the basis of faith, the head of the apostolic choir."§ 
— "To him the Lord gave the presidency of the Church 

THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH. "|| 

St. Epiphanius, bishop of Salamina, in the island of Cyprus, 
a contemporary of Chrysostom, calls Peter " the first of the 
apostles, the solid rock on which the Church was built."H 

St. Cyril of Alexandria observes of our Lord : " He was 
pleased to call him Peter, by an apt similitude, as the one on 
whom He was about to found the Church."** 

St. Hilary filled the see of Poictiers in Gaul, in the middle 
of the fourth century. In his treatise on the Trinity, he thus 
distinguishes the teachers from whom he derived the know- 
ledge of this mystery : " Matthew, from a publican chosen to 
be an apostle ; John, through the familiarity of the Lord, made 
worthy of a revelation of heavenly mysteries, and after his 
confession of the mystery, blessed Simon, lying beneath the 

FABRIC OF THE CHURCH.ff AND RECEIVING THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM 

of heaven, and all the others preaching by the Holy Spirit."JJ 
Although wholly intent on establishing the divinity of Christ, 
Hilary strongly declares the distinguishing attributes of Peter, 
who supports the Church as a foundation-stone sustains the 
building, and who has received the keys of the kingdom, as 
the symbol of spiritual sovereignty. He elsewhere addresses 
all the apostles as having received the keys, because all re- 
ceived the power of binding and loosing ;§§ but when distin- 

* De Verbis Isaiae, horn. 4, p. 609. Tom. i. 
f In duodecim Apost. Tom. v., p. 691. 
% In Ep. ad Corinth, i. c. ix., horn. 21. 
§ Horn. 2, de posn. in Psalm 1. 
|) Ad pop. Antioch., hom. 80, de poenitentia. 
■Jf In Ancorato. ** L. ii., in c. xii. Joan- 

ft iEdificationi ecclesis subjacens. $f L. vi. de Trinitate, n. 20. 
De Trinit.,1. vi., p. 166. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



49 



guishing Peter from Matthew, John, and Paul, he puts the 
keys as his peculiar characteristic. All may be said to have 
received them, as far as they are symbols of apostolic power, 
but to Peter only they were given expressly by Christ, as the 
proper symbol of delegated sovereignty. 

When speaking of the confession made by Peter, Hilary 
shows that it was extolled by our Saviour, as divinely revealed, 
because it was an acknowledgment that He is the true and 
eternal Son of God the Father : " For praise," says he, " was 
given to Peter, not on account of the confession of the honor, 
but on account of his acknowledgment of the mystery, because 
he confessed not merely Christ, but Christ the Son of God. 
The Father saying, ' This is My Son,' revealed to Peter, that 
he might say, ' Thou art the Son of God.' On this rock of con- 
fession,* therefore, the Church is built. This faith is the 
foundation of the Church : through this faith the gates of hell 
are powerless against her. This faith has the keys of the 
heavenly kingdom. What this faith binds or looses on earth, 
is bound and loosed in heaven. This faith is the gift of the 
Father's revelation ; not falsely to assert that Christ is a crea- 
ture, drawn forth from nothing, but to confess him to be the 
Son of God, according to his natural property. O ! impious 
frenzy of wretched folly, that does not understand the martyr 
of blessed old age and faith, the martyr Peter, for whom He 
prayed to the Father, that his faith might not fail in tempta- 
tion — who, having twice repeated the profession of the love 
which God demanded of him, sighed, on being a third time in- 
terrogated, as if his love were doubtful and uncertain ; thereby 
also meriting to hear thrice from the Lord, after being purified 
of his weaknesses by this threefold trial : 4 Feed My sheep — 
who, whilst all the other apostles remained silent, understand- 
ing, in a manner beyond human infirmity, from the revelation 
of the Father, that He was the Son of God, merited pre-emi- 
nent glory by the confession of his faith ! To what necessity 
of interpreting his words are we now brought ! He confessed 
Christ to be the Son of God : but you, (Arian,) the lying priest- 
hood of a new apostleship, urge me to believe that Christ is a 
creature brought forth from nothing. What violence you offer 
to His glorious words ! He confessed the Son of God : for 
this he is blessed. This is the revelation of the Father, 

* On this confession, as on a rock. 



50 THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 

this is the foundation of the Church, this is the security for 
eternity. Hence he has the keys of the kingdom of heaven — 
hence his judgments on earth are ratified in heaven. He 
learned by revelation the mystery hidden from ages— he spoke 
the faith — he declared the nature — he confessed the Son of God. 
Whoever, on the contrary, affirming Him to be a creature, de- 
nies this, should first deny the apostleship of Peter, his faith, 
blessedness, priesthood, martyrdom ; and then let him under- 
stand that he is estranged from Christ, because Peter, confessing 

Him to be the Son, merited these things Let there be a 

different faith, if there be different keys of heaven. Let there 
be a different faith, if there is to be another Church against 
which the gates of hell shall not prevail. Let there be another 
faith, if there is to be another apostleship, binding and loosing 
in heaven what it binds and looses on earth. Let there be 
another faith, if Christ shall be proclaimed to be a different 
Son of God from what He is. But if this faith only that con- 
fessed Christ to be the Son of God, merited in Peter the glory 
of all beatitudes, that which declares Him to be rather a crea- 
ture from nothing, must necessarily be not the Church, nor of 
Christ, since it has not obtained the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven, and is contrary to the apostolic faith and power."* 

From these quotations the reader has a full and correct view 
of the sentiments of Hilary. His object is to show that the 
Arian heresy had no part or share in the power of the keys, or 
the privileges granted to Peter, because it had not the faith 
which obtained for Peter these privileges. There is not the 
least effort to establish a distinction between Peter and the 
confession of faith which he made : but the Arians are con- 
founded, by being told, that, as they deny Christ to be the Son 
of the living God, they have no power of the keys, and are not 
inheritors of the promises made to the Church. Peter, then, 
confessing the divinity of Christ, is the foundation : his is the 
apostleship, the acts of which are confirmed in heaven : the 
Church connected with him is that against which the gates of 
hell cannot prevail: there can be no other faith, no other 
power, no other Church. In the circumstances in which St. 
Hilary and other fathers spoke, during the prevalence of Ari- 
anism, and at a time when no controversy was agitated con- 



* &e Trin. 1. vi., p. 169. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



51 



cerning the prerogatives of Peter and his successors, it was 
natural for them to employ the text against the formidable 
heresy which they were engaged in refuting. As Peter had 
made a glorious confession of the divinity of Christ, and had 
received his name and privileges in reward of it, they rightly 
insisted that on this confession the whole fabric of Christianity 
rested, so that to deny the eternal generation of Christ was to 
overthrow all revealed religion, and make void all the counsels 
of God for the salvation of men. His reasoning perfectly har- 
monizes with the obvious exposition of the text, since the con- 
fession was not a mere abstraction, but was the act of Peter 
under divine illumination ; and to say that the Church was 
founded on the confession of the divinity of Christ made by 
Peter, is equivalent to declaring that it was founded on Peter, 
in consequence of his having confessed Christ to be the Son 
of the living God. In applying the text to the controversy of 
the day, the fathers did not, even by the remotest implication, 
deny its direct applicability to the establishment of the pre- 
rogatives of Peter ; which, on the contrary, on so many occa- 
sions, they most unequivocally asserted. 

In his commentary on the glorious confession of Peter, Hila- 
ry observes : " The confession of Peter obtained a suitable re- 
ward, because he discerned the Son of God in the man.* 
Blessed is he, who was praised for observing and seeing be- 
yond what human eyes could see ; — not beholding what was 
of flesh and blood, but discerning the Son of God by the reve- 
lation of the heavenly Father ; and who was judged worthy to 
be the first to recognise in Christ his divine nature. O ! thou 

FOUNDATION OF THE ChURCH, HAPPY IN THE NEW APPELLATION WHICH 
THOU RECEIVEST ! O ! ROCK, WORTHY OF THAT BUILDING WHICH IS TO 
DESTROY THE INFERNAL POWERS, AND THE GATES OF HELL, AND ALL 
THE BARS OF DEATH ! O ! HAPPY GATE-KEEPER OF HEAVEN, TO WHOSE 
DISCRETION THE KEYS OF THE ETERNAL PORCH ARE DELIVERED, AND 
WHOSE JUDGMENT ON EARTH IS AN AUTHORITATIVE ANTICIPATION OF 

heavenly judgment, so that those things which are bound or 
loosed on earth, obtain in heaven the same order and deter- 
mination."! — Any effort to illustrate this passage would be 
superfluous. 

* He recognised Christ as the eternal Son of God, although veiled in hu- 
man flesh. 

t Comm. in Matt., c. xvi. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



After this illustrious doctor of the Church of Gaul, the order 
of time presents to us Optatus, bishop of Milevis, in Africa, 
who was among the most learned, eloquent and saintly pre- 
lates in the. decline of the fourth century. Of him St. Augus- 
tin says, that if the Church depended on the virtue of her minis- 
ters, his life might serve as a proof of her authority. He wrote 
against the Donatists, whom he held to be inexcusable for as- 
suming the name of Church, whilst they remained separated 
from that see, which, in the person of Peter, received the keys : 
" Christ," he remarks, " in the Canticle of Canticles intimates 
that His dove is one, that she is a chosen spouse, an enclosed 
garden, and a sealed fountain ; so that all heretics neither 
have the keys which Peter alone received, nor the ring with 
which the fountain is said to be sealed : and the garden, in 
which God plants the shrubs, belongs to none of them. — What 
can you say to these things, you who secretly cherish and 
shamelessly defend schism, taking to yourselves the name of the 
Church ? "* To how many deluded men in our day might not 
this reproach be addressed ! 

Let us hear the eloquent Bishop of Milan, whose lucid expo- 
sition of Catholic truth dissipated the prejudices and errors of 
Augustin, and prepared his heart for the triumph of divine 
grace over pride and passion. In his commentary on the for- 
tieth Psalm, Ambrose says : " This is that Peter to whom 
Christ said : * Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
My Church.' Therefore where Peter is there is the Church, 
there death is not, but life eternal : and therefore He added : 
' and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it : and I will 
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' Blessed 
Peter, against whom the gate of hell did not prevail, and the 
gate of heaven was not closed ! on the contrary, he destroyed 
the porches of hell, and laid open those of heaven : therefore, 
whilst on earth, he opened heaven, and closed hell."f Speak- 
ing of the question put by our Redeemer to His disciples as to 
what opinions prevailed among men concerning Him, he ob- 
serves the silence of Peter in this circumstance ; but calls our 
attention to his promptitude in answering the interrogation as 
to their own belief. " This, therefore, is Peter, who answered 
rather than the other apostles, yea, for the others, and he is 



* Opt. Afric, 1. 1. f In Psalm xL, enarr., § 30. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE, 



58 



therefore styled the foundation, because he not only fulfilled 
his duty individually, but acted in behalf of all. Him Christ 
eulogized : to him the Father made a revelation : for he, who 
speaks of the true generation of the Father, learned it not from 
flesh, but from the Father.* Faith, therefore, is the foundation 
of the Church : for it was not said of the flesh of Peter, but of 
his faith, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it : but 
the confession overcame hell. And this confession does not 
exclude one heresy only : for since the Church, like a good 
ship, is lashed oftentimes by many waves, the foundation of 
the Church ought to prevail against all heresies. The day 
would close before I should have enumerated the names of the 
heretics and different sects : but against all of them that faith 
is general, that Christ is the Son of God, eternally proceed- 
ing from the Father, born in time of the Virgin."*)- When 
Ambrose says, that faith is the foundation of the Church, he 
evidently speaks of faith in the divinity of Christ as professed 
by Peter, that is, of Peter professing the faith. He is, there- 
fore, styled the foundation, in reward of his promptitude to con- 
fess Christ, before the others, and in their name. The confes- 
sion which he made was, indeed, the expression of his indi- 
vidual faith, but it was made by him in reply to a question 
that regarded all ; nor did he give it in as peculiar to himself. 
St. Ambrose insists that the Church was not built on the flesh 
of Peter, but on his faith ; because it was no mere natural 
quality that gained for him this prerogative, but his faith in 
the divinity of Christ ; and this faith is ever to prove the bul- 
wark of the Church against the endless varieties of heresy. 
He insists on this for the same reason as Hilary and Chrysos- 
tom, in order the more effectually to combat Arianism. In his 
work on faith, he observes : " That you may know that what 
He asks as man, He ordains by His divine power, you have in 
the Gospel what He said to Peter : 4 1 have prayed for thee, 
that thy faith may not fail.' And when Peter said before : 
* Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God,' He answered : 
4 Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, 

* Hie est ergo Petrus, qui respondit prae caeteris Apostolis, imo pro cete- 
ris, et ideo fundamentum dicitur, quia novit non solum proprium, sed etiam 
commune servare. Huic astipulatus est Christus, revelavit Pater. 

f De Incarn., c. 4 and 5. 



54 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



and to thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven/ 
Could He not, therefore, strengthen the faith of him to whom, 
of His own authority, He gave a kingdom, and whom, in call- 
ing A ROCK, HE MADE THE STRENGTH OF THE ChURCH ? Consider 

when it is that he prays — when it is that He commands. He 
prays when He is about to suffer; He commands when He is 
believed to be the Son of God." # Peter, then, is the rock of 
strength on which the Church rests : he has received a king- 
dom from Christ. 

It is manifest that St. Ambrose interpreted the texts of 
Scripture precisely as we interpret them, and recognised in 
Peter special powers and prerogatives not granted to the 
other apostles of Christ. He was the rock, — the foundation, 
— the strength and support of the Church, — sustaining all the 
parts of the vast fabric, holding them together in unity, and 
imparting to them strength and durability. He received a 
kingdom from Christ, — that heavenly kingdom whose keys 
were entrusted to him. Elsewhere Ambrose says : " Christ is 
a rock : 4 for they drank of that spiritual rock which followed 
them, and the rock was Christ.' He did not deny the favor 
of this appellation even to His disciple, that he may also be 
Peter, because from the rock he derives the solidity of con- 
stancy, and the firmness of faith." f Thus far he retains the 
literal meaning of the text, and often and strongly inculcates 
it. He then takes occasion from it for exhortation, and passes 
to a mystical interpretation, similar to one found in Origen. 
" Peter," he elsewhere says, " is therefore styled a rock for his 
devotion, and the Lord is styled a rock for his power, as the 
apostle says : ' they drank of the spiritual rock that followed 
them, and the rock was Christ.' He justly deserves the com- 
munication of the name, who is made worthy to partake of 
the work, for Peter in the same house laid the foundation. 
Peter plants, the Lord gives an increase, the Lord waters."J 

The last verse of the thirty-eighth Psalm reads thus, in our 
Vulgate translation : — " O forgive me, that I may be refresh- 
ed, before I go hence and be no more."§ On these words St. 

* De Fide, 1. iv. This observation coincides admirably with that of St. 
Chrysostom, above cited, p. 46. 

f L. vi. in Luc, n. 97. { L. v., $ 33. 

§ The Vulgate version of the Psalms was made from the Greek version of 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



55 



Ambrose writes — " Forgive me, that is, forgive me here where 
I have sinned. Unless you forgive me here, I shall not be 
able to find there the repose consequent on forgiveness : for 
what remains bound on earth, shall remain bound in heaven ; 
what is loosed on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. Therefore, 
the Lord gave to his apostles what previously was reserved 
to His own judgment, the power of remitting sins,* to be ex- 
ercised justly, lest what should have been speedily loosed re- 
main bound for a long time. Finally, hear what He says : 
4 1 will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and 
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound also in 
heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be 
loosed also in heaven.' To thee, He says, I will give the keys 
of theJringdom of heaven, that thou mayest loose and bind. 
Novatian did not hear this, but the Church of God heard it : 
therefore, he is in his fallen state ; we are in the way of for- 
giveness : he is in a state of impenitence ; we, of grace. 
What is said to Peter, is said to the apostles. We do not usurp 
the power, but we obey the command, lest, when the Lord 
shall afterwards come, and find those bound who should have 
been loosed, he be indignant against the dispenser who kept 
the servants bound, whom the Lord had ordered to be loosed."f 
In this beautiful vindication of the power of forgiving sin, as 
exercised by the Catholic Church, there is nothing that de- 
stroys the distinction which Christ made in the powers of the 
apostles. Ambrose quotes the words addressed to Peter, to 
prove that the Church founded on Peter has the power of for- 
giving sins : and observes that this power was not confined to 
Peter, Christ having spoken in like manner to all the apostles. 
He does not say that He spoke precisely the same words, 
or gave to each one the same power to be exercised inde- 
pendently ; nor does He treat here of the governing power 
of the Church, as typified by the keys of the heavenly king- 
dom, which were peculiarly given to Peter, but he specially 
treats of the power of forgiving sin, of binding and loosing, 
which was common to all. When speaking distinctly of the 

the Septuagint, which, in some places, presents a reading somewhat different 
from the actual Hebrew. 

* Peccata remittendi aequitatem. The Vatican manuscript reads ; pee- 
cata remittendi agquitate solvenda. 

f Enar. in Psalm xxxviii, 



m 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



power of the keys, he ascribes it to Peter alone : " There 
went up to the mountain Peter, who received the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven ; John, to whom his mother is entrusted ; 
James, also, who first ascended the episcopal throne."* The 
keys of the heavenly kingdom were consequently his charac- 
teristic badge, as it was the peculiar privilege of John to re- 
ceive in his charge the Mother of the Lord, and of James to 
govern with episcopal authority the Church of Jerusalem. 
" Peter, James, and John, and Barnabas," are styled pillars, 
but Peter is called " an eternal gate, against whom the gates 
of hell shall not prevail."f 

The equality of Paul to Peter is asserted by Ambrose, not 
as to the power of office, but as to the merit of virtue ; and 
this with a view to prove that the choice of the Holy Spirit 
was fall of wisdom. " Being chosen by the command of the 
Holy Spirit, which is abundant evidence of the excellence of 
his merits, he was not unworthy of so great a college. For 
the same grace shone forth in those whom the same Spirit 
had chosen. Nor was Paul inferior to Peter, though the one 
was the foundation of the Church, and the other a wise ar- 
chitect, knowing how to direct the steps of the nations that 
believe. Paul, I say, was not unworthy of the college of the 
apostles, since he also may be compared with the first, and 
was second to none : for he who does not acknowledge him- 
self inferior, makes himself equal."J The meaning is ob- 
vious. Ambrose is careful to mark even here the distinguish- 
ing characteristic of Peter as the foundation of the Church, 
and first of the apostles, whilst he supposes Paul to be equal 
to him in merit, and, on that account, to be compared even 
with the first. 

Some passages of the writings of Ambrose are occasion- 
ally abused to obscure his testimony to the primacy of Peter. 
Any one, however, who considers them in their connexion, and 
compares the one with the other, cannot hesitate as to their 
meaning. Those places wherein he gives interpretations evi- 
dently mystical, need not be specially explained, since, as we 
have already remarked, such expositions cannot have weight 
in doctrinal inquiries. 

St. Jerom, the contemporary of Ambrose, is justly esteemed, 

* In Lucam, 1. vii., n. 9. See also in Psalm cxviii., Serm. 20. 
f De fide, 1. iv., c. 1, $ 25. % L. de Sp. S., § 158. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



57 



not only for his excellent translation of the Scriptures, but 
also for his lucid exposition of their meaning. In his work 
against Jovinian, who assailed virginity, and objected that 
Peter, a married man, was chosen to be prince of the apostles, 
Jerom replied that his wife was probably deceased ; the omis- 
sion of all mention of her in Scripture favoring this conjec- 
ture, as well as the circumstance, that when the fever had left 
her, his mother-in-law served at the table. He proceeded to 
show that John, on account of his virginity, enjoyed the spe- 
cial love of Christ, and was admitted to special familiarity. 
He then objects to himself, that Peter was chosen to be the 
foundation of the Church ; and observes, that the other apos- 
tles likewise received similar powers, though he admits that, 
to prevent schism, Peter was chosen to be the head of all? 
He further inquires why the virgin apostle, John, did not re- 
ceive this distinction, and answers that the age of Peter was a 
reason for preferring him : " But, you say," he remarks, " the 
Church is founded upon Peter : though the same thing is else- 
where done upon all the apostles, and all receive the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the Church is 
equally consolidated upon all : yet one is chosen amongst the 

TWELVE, THAT A HEAD BEING ESTABLISHED, THE OCCASION OF SCHISM 

may be removed. But why was not the virgin John chosen ? 
Regard was had to age, because Peter was elder, lest a very 
young man should be preferred to men of advanced age."* 
It is clear, that whilst Jerom advocates so strongly the excel- 
lence of virginity and its special prerogatives, he is careful to 
lay down, in clear and precise terms, the primacy of Peter* 
All the apostles are, indeed, in a certain degree the founda- 
tions of the Church, since of the heavenly Jerusalem, which 
is the Church in glory, it is said : " the wall of the city had 
twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apos- 
tles of the Lamb :"f but Peter is strictly the foundation, since 
to him only, and not to the others, Christ said : " Thou art Pe- 
ter, and on this rock I will build My Church." All of them 
have received the keys of the kingdom, inasmuch as all have 
received the power of binding and loosing, which is some- 
times expressed by that symbol : but it was not without spe~ 



Adv. Jo v., 1. 1, p. 16, torn. iii. 



f Apoc. xxi. 14. 



58 THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 

cial and high design that to Peter alone was said : " To thee I 
will give the keys of the kingdom." Jerom maintains that 
similar powers were granted to the others, on which account 
it may be justly said, that upon all of them the strength of 
the Church is consolidated, since all concur to the great work 
of the ministry, in union, however, with Peter, who is the head, 
invested with all the authority necessary for maintaining order 
and unity : a head, by the appointment of whom all plausible 
pretext for schism is removed. Were not this his peculiar 
privilege, there was no need of explaining why John was not 
chosen to be chief. 

In his commentary upon the similitude of the wise man who 
built his house upon a rock, Jerom observes : " On this rock 
*the Lord founded the Church : from this rock Peter the apos- 
tle derived his name. The foundation which the apostolic 
architect laid, is our Lord Jesus Christ alone : on this stable 
and firm foundation, and of itself founded with a strong mass, 
the Church of Christ is built."* This, at first sight, may ap- 
pear not to harmonize with the general interpretation of the 
fathers ; but by attention to the occasion in which it was writ- 
ten, it will be found not to be at variance. In reference to 
the similitude used by our Saviour in His sermon on the 
mount, it was most natural to observe, that He was the wise 
man who built His Church upon a rock, and that from this 
circumstance Peter was styled a rock: but it would be a 
strange phrase to say, that He built his Church upon Himself, 
thus confounding the architect with the foundation. Hear 
Jerom elsewhere : " As Plato was the prince of philosophers, 
so was Peter of the apostles : on him the Church of the Lord, 
an enduring structure, was BuiLT."f In his letter to Marcellus 
he says of Peter: "upon whom the Lord built his Church." J 

The allusion to the text of St. Paul presents a change of 
metaphor. In the former Christ was the architect, and Peter 
the foundation : in this Paul is architect, and Christ the foun- 
dation. Metaphors admit of this variety, and it would be 
unjust to transfer what regards one similitude to another some- 
what different. 

* Comm. Mat., c. viii., f. 12. 

f L. 1, adv. Pelag., c. 4. % Class. 2, Ep. 4, n. 2. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



59 



The commentary of Jerom on the promise of our Saviour to 
Peter, plainly establishes the relation between them. "What 
means," he asks, " ' I say to thee V Because thou hast said to 
Me : ' Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God : I also say 
to thee ;' not in vain discourse, void of effect, but I say to thee, 
because My word effects what it implies : * that thou art Peter, 
and on this rock I will build My Church.' As He gave light to 
the apostles, that they might be called the light of the world, 
and they received other appellations from the Lord : so also 
He bestowed the name of Peter on Simon, who believed in the 
rock Christ ; and according to the metaphor of a rock, it is 
properly said to him : ' I will build My Church upon thee." — 
'And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' I think 
that the gates of hell are the vices and sins of men ; or cer- 
tainly the doctrines of heretics, by which men are allured and 
led to hell."* Here the learned interpreter applies to Peter 
the term rock, and explains the promise as if it were said : I 
will build My Church on thee. Against this Church neither 
the vices and sins of men, nor the doctrines of heretics, will 
prevail. Scandals must come, and may obscure the lustre of 
the Church, but they cannot effect her overthrow : heresies 
may be broached, even by those who were children of the 
Church, but they can never receive her sanction, because 
Christ teaches in her " all days even to the consummation of 
the world." 

When commenting on the rebuke of Christ : " Go behind 
me, Satan," Jerom supposes his reader to inquire, how this is 
compatible with the sublime address made to Peter, and with 
the powers conferred on him. " If," he answers, " the inquirer 
reflect, he will perceive that the benediction, and beatitude, 
and power, and the building of the Church upon him, were 
promised to Peter for a future time, and were not granted at 
the present time : 4 1 will build (he says) on thee My Church, 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it : and to thee 
I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven ;' — all in the fu- 
ture tense. Had he given them immediately, the error of a 
perverse confession (his denial) would never have taken place 
in him."f This enlightened doctor was firmly persuaded that 

* Com. in Matt., torn, ix., f. 24, 25. Ed. Bas. an. 1516. 
| Ibidem. 



60 THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



if Peter had been at once constituted primate, the providence 
of God would have prevented his fall. 

St. Jerom unhesitatingly explained the rock of Peter and 
his successors in the see of Rome. Addressing Pope Damasus to 
obtain his instructions in regard to the use of the term hypostases, 
which in the East was understood by some of the Divine Na- 
ture, whilst others used it of the Divine Persons, as it is now 
universally understood, he says : " Let it not appear invidious : 
let the pomp of Roman majesty withdraw : I speak with the 
successor of the fisherman, and a disciple of the cross. I, who 
follow no one as chief* except Christ, am united in commu- 
nion with your Holiness, that is, with the chair of Peter : on 
that rock I know that the Church is built. Whoever eats 
the lamb out of this house is profane. Whoever was not in 
the ark of Noe, must perish in the deluge. "f Respectfully 
approaching the heir of Peter's faith, Jerom begs that his bold- 
ness may be excused ; and reminds Damasus, who was encom- 
passed with a splendor like that of imperial majesty, that his 
greatest dignity is that of successor of the fisherman. This is 
his imperishable title, his highest glory : as this authority is the 
fundamental and immovable principle of the Church. We 
have in this passage the obvious meaning of the text with its 
application in the most direct and positive manner. 

St. Augustin gave in several places of his writings the com- 
mon interpretation of the texts regarding the primacy, but in 
his retractations, he observed, that he had likewise explained 
" the rock" of Christ Himself, and he left the reader to judge 
which of the two expositions was the more probable. J He 
was led to doubt from the change of gender observable in the 
Greek and Latin : a distinction to which no importance can be 
attached by any one acquainted with the language in which 
our Lord spoke, which admits of no variation in the term, as 
we have already seen. His hesitation cannot outweigh the 
positive judgment of so many fathers, who concur in recognis- 
ing Peter as the rock of which Christ spoke, especially as 
the context, by the acknowledgment of most learned adversa- 
ries, admits of no o!;her interpretation. He did not, however, 
hesitate as to the meaning of the whole passage of Matthew, 

* Primum. f Ep. xv., Damaso. % L. 1, Retract., c. xxi. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



61 



and of the other texts, which he uniformly expounded as de- 
claring the governing authority wherewith Peter was invested. 
In his discourses on the Gospel of St. John, he observes that 
our Lord left almsgiving and prayer as remedies for the slighter 
sins into which even just men fall, and taught us to pray for 
forgiveness, as we forgive our debtors. " The Church," he 
says, " happy in hope, does this," (namely, sues for pardon in the 
name of her frail children,) " in this wretched life : which 
Church Peter the apostle, on account of the primacy of his 
apostleship, represented in a figurative universality," (that is, 
Peter being addressed as the whole Church, which he repre- 
sented, as her head). " For, as to what strictly regards him- 
self, he was by nature an individual man, by grace an indivi- 
dual Christian ; but by more abundant grace he was an apos- 
tle, and the first : but when it was said to him : ' To thee I 
will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and 
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in 
heaven,' he represented the whole Church, which in this world 
is agitated by various temptations, as by showers, floods and 
tempests, and which does not fall, because it is founded on the 
rock, whence Peter derived his name."* Here Augustin departs 
from the general interpretation of the term rock, yet considers 
Peter as the representative of the whole Church, receiving 
from Christ a power to be exercised for the benefit of all. He 
was not a mere actor in the scene, but an official representa- 
tive, "on account of the primacy of his apostleship," and in that 
capacity he received the promise, and subsequent^ the power 
promised, which was not for his mere personal advantage, but 
for the Church at large, for whose benefit it was to be exer- 
cised. On this point the holy doctor insists, because the Mon- 
tanists and Novatians denied to the Church the power of for- 
giveness. " Therefore," says he, '* the Church, which is found- 
ed on Christ, received through Peter the keys of the kingdom 
of heaven, that is, the power of binding and loosing sins. For 
what the Church is reallyf in Christ, Peter is the same mys- 

* Tract, cxxiv., in c. xxi. Joan. Ev. 

f " Quod est enim per proprietatem in Christo Ecclesia, hoc est per signi- 
ficationem Petrus in petra, qua significatione intelligitur Christus petra, Petrus 
Ecclesia." Ib. 

4 



62 THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 

tically in the rock : according to which signification Christ is 
the rock, Peter the Church. This Church, therefore, which 
Peter represented, as long as she is in the midst of evils, is 
freed from evils, by loving and following Christ. And she fol- 
lows him especially by means of those who contend unto death 
for the truth. But to the multitude is said, 4 follow Me ;' for 
which multitude Christ suffered."* In pursuing this allegorical 
explanation, Augustin evidently presupposes that the keys were 
given to Peter, and that in him,f the Church received them, 
inasmuch as not for himself only — " an individual man, an 
individual Christian" — but for all the Church, he, who was " an 
apostle and first of the apostles," received this power. J "For 
the benefit of all the saints," says he, " inseparably belonging to 
the body of Christ, Peter, the first of the apostles, received 
the keys of the kingdom, for its government in this most tem- 
pestuous life, to bind and loose sins ;§ and with reference to the 
same saints, John the Evangelist reclined on the bosom of 
Christ, to express the most tranquil repose of this most secret 
life." John is said to represent or signify the Church trium- 
phant, inasmuch as, reposing on the bosom of Jesus, he pre- 
sents an image of the happiness of the saints. The represen- 
tative character of Peter is clearly marked as official, directed 
to the government of the Church militant in this stormy life. 
He is the pilot placed by Christ at the helm ; — he is the ruler, 
who received from Christ the keys of His kingdom. 

It is in the same sense that St. Augustin insists that not only 
Peter, but all the apostles, in his person, since he represented 
the whole Church, received the keys, because the power of for- 
giving sins was not limited to him alone, but it was communi- 
cated to all the apostles for the benefit of the whole Church. 
" For it is evident," he says, " that Peter in many places of the 
Scripture represents the Church (personam gestet ecclesice,) 
chiefly in that place where it is said : ' 1 give unto thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind 

* " Sed universitati dicitur : sequere me." To all the Church the com- 
mand is directed. 

t " Ecclesia ergo, quae fundatur in Christo, claves ab eo regni ccelorum ac- 
cepit in Petro, id est potestatem ligandi solvendique peccata." Tract, cxxiv. 
in Joan. 

I " Abundantiore gratia unus idemque primus apostolorum." Ibidem. 
§ Ibidem. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt 
loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.' What ! did Peter 
receive those keys, and Paul not receive them 1 Did Peter re- 
ceive them, and John and James and the rest of the apostles not 
receive them 1 Or are not those keys in the Church, where 
sins are daily remitted ? But since in meaning hinted, but not 
expressed, (in significatione) Peter was representing the Church, 
what was given to him singly, was given to the Church. So 
then, Peter bore the figure of the Church : the Church is the 
body of Christ ;' # What Augustin inculcates is plainly that 
the Church, through Peter, who in his official capacity repre- 
sented her, on account of the primacy of his apostleship, re- 
ceived the power of forgiveness. This does not imply that 
the keys were not given to Peter in a more special manner, as 
symbols of governing power : which is plainly declared in 
holy Scripture, and universally acknowledged by the fathers 
of the Church. 

St. Leo the Great is most eloquent and forcible in the expo- 
sition of the sacred text. He observes : " Christ having as- 
sumed him to a participation in His indivisible unity, was 
pleased that he should be styled what He Himself was, saying : 
* Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church ;' that 
the building of the eternal temple, by the wonderful gift of 
the grace of God, should rest on the solidity of the rock, 
strengthening His Church by this firmness, so that neither hu- 
man temerity could affect it, nor the gates of hell prevail 
against it. But whosoever attempts to infringe on his power, 
indulges excessive and impious presumption, in seeking to vi- 
olate the most sacred strength of this rock, God, as we have 
said, being the builder."f This exposition loses nothing of its 
weight from the fact that St. Leo filled, at the time, the chair 
of Peter. His learning and sanctity, the high esteem which 
he enjoyed among his contemporaries, and the veneration with 
which his memory has been transmitted to us, do not suffer us 
to consider him as influenced by personal interest, or pride of 
station, in expounding the sacred text. He spoke the truth in 
Christ, with no other view than that all should adore the divine 
wisdom and power manifested in the establishment of the 
Church. 

* Tom. v., 706 B., quoted by Mr. Allies. f T - °P- coL > 1315> 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 



St. Leo freely admits that the power given to Peter was to 
be communicated to the other apostles, but insists that it was 
specially lodged in him for the great ends of Christian unity. 
" The privilege of this power did indeed pass to the other apos- 
tles, and the order of this decree reached to all the rulers of 
the Church, but not without purpose what is intended for all is 
put into the hands of one."* Elsewhere he says : " The Lord 
hath willed that the mystery of this gift (of announcing the 
Gospel) should belong to the office of all the apostles, on the 
condition of its being chiefly seated in the most blessed Peter, 
first of all the apostles, and from him, as it were from the head, 
it is His pleasure that His gifts should flow into the whole 
body, that whoever dares to recede from the rock of Peter may 
know that He has no part in the divine mystery. For him 
hath He assumed into the participation of His indivisible unity, 
and willed that he should be named what He himself is, say- 
ing, 4 Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My 
Church that the rearing of the eternal temple by the won- 
derful gift of the grace of God might consist in the solidity of 
Peter, strengthening with this firmness His Church, that neither 
the rashness of man might attempt it, nor the gates of hell 
prevail against it."f 

The quotations hitherto submitted to the reader, show clearly 
that the text, Matthew xvi., was understood by the fathers of 
the first five centuries, as implying special relations of Peter 
to the Church, as its foundation and ruler. It is in vain that 
Mr. Palmer asserts that some interpret it of the apostles gene- 
rally, for it will easily be seen that these fathers, as Ambrose 
and Augustin, whose words we have quoted, speak of the apos- 
tolic powers as declared in other passages, and that they apply 
and extend to the apostles the text in question, so far only as 
these powers are implied, without prejudice to the primacy of 
Peter, which they expressly affirm. The few who speak of 
Christ as the rock, for the most part use this figure without 
direct reference to the text of Matthew, for the purpose of de- 
daring the immovable nature of the Church, of which Christ 
is the support ; and when, like Augustin, they refer to this 
passage, they otherwise acknowledge in unequivocal terms 

* In aimiv. suae consecr. f Ep. 10. 



THE FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF THE PROMISE. 65 

the high prerogative of the prince of the apostles. All who 
interpret it of the faith as confessed by Peter, perfectly harmo- 
nize with those who expound it of Peter himself, so that these 
two interpretations, which at first sight appear different, are 
in reality identical. It is worthy of remark, that before the 
rise of Arianism, no father of the Church explained the rock 
of the confession of Peter, which was first suggested by the 
necessity of employing against that impiety every available 
weapon. It is also to be observed that no father, who declares 
faith to be the rock, expressly excludes Peter, whilst many 
positively mention him conjointly with the confession. The 
moral application and allegorical expositions of some can by 
no means weaken the literal exposition so forcibly delivered 
by the great body of the fathers. We can, therefore, fairly 
claim their general support in the maintenance of the primacy 
as divinely promised to Peter. 



t 



CHAPTER IV. 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



The promise made by Christ to Peter, that He would make 
him the fundamental rock of His Church, and give him the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the solemn charge to con- 
firm his brethren, prepare us for the collation of extraordinary 
power. The denial of his Divine Master, might, however, 
seem to be an insuperable obstacle to the elevation of this 
frail apostle : but his tears, which were bitter and abundant, 
washed away his prevarication, and Christ, after His resurrec- 
tion, appearing to him with other disciples, Thomas, John and 
James, and two others, besides Nathaniel, of Cana in Galilee, 
was pleased to fulfil His promise, after He had first elicited 
repeated protestations of special love. He presented Himself 
to Peter and the others as they were fishing, and directed 
them to cast the net on the right side of the ship, assuring 
them that they would be successful. The verification of this 
assurance led John to recognise Him, and Peter, being made 
sensible of the presence of his Master, girded his coat about 
him. Then, as the other disciples came in the ship, drawing 
the net, and reached the shore, " Simon Peter went up, and 
drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and 
fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was 
not broken."* It cannot be doubted, that by this miraculous 
draught was typified the wonderful conversion of nations by 
the apostles, with Peter at their head, acting under the com- 
mand of Jesus. The occasion was most opportune for de- 
claring the office of Peter. " When, therefore, they had dined, 
Jesus said to Simon Peter : Simon, son of John, lovest thou 
Me more than these ? " Some have absurdly explained this 



* John xxi. 11. 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



67 



question, as if Peter were asked whether he loved his Lord 
more than the fish ; but this cannot be seriously advanced. 
The comparison is evidently referred to the persons present. 
Peter declares his affection : " He saith to Him : yea, Lord, 
thou knowest that I love thee." This declaration was fol- 
lowed by the pastoral commission : " Feed My lambs."* 
That is, the tenderest, weakest portion of the flock, the lit- 
tles ones in Christ, the faithful who are as lambs in regard to 
those who have begotten them, or -brought them forth in 
Christ. The question is renewed : " He saith to him again, 
Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me ? He saith to Him : yea, 
Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him : feed 
My lambs."f The commission is repeated, in a new form, as 
appears from the Greek text. The former injunction regarded 
feeding, the present comprises the whole pastoral care — to 
tend, to watch over, to restrain, to bring back the stray sheep, 
to remove the contagious, and to do all that a shepherd should 
do for his flock. " He saith to him the third time : Simon, 
son of John, lovest thou Me ? Peter was grieved, because He 
saith to him the third time, lovest thou Me ? And he said to 
Him : Lord, Thou knowest all things : Thou knowest that I 
love Thee. He said to him : feed My sheep." J Thus, on the 
manifestation of his tender love and enlightened faith, Peter 
receives the commission to feed the sheep of Christ, namely, 
those who are to the faithful as sheep to lambs, their parents in 
Christ. In the presence of the beloved disciple, and of James, 
Thomas and others, Peter receives a commission, the highest 
that could be given, by which he becomes, in the place of 
Christ, the shepherd of the flock. The declaration of special 
love, which was demanded of him, shows that special power 
was to be imparted : the repetition of the injunction in vari- 
ous forms, manifests the intention of our Lord to communi- 
cate all necessary power for feeding, tending and governing 
all His flock. 

Our Lord had foretold the union of Gentiles and Jews in 
His Church. " Other sheep I have," said He, " that are not 

* jSotfxt tU apvla fis. 

f 7ioLfxaLvs tu Ttp6$a?ay.ov. The Vulgate interpreter read dpvt a. The Greek 
term is taken for governing, as kings were called shepherds of the people : 
rtot^EVJs T^aav. See Homer, passim. 



68 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



of this fold : them also I must bring ; and they shall hear My 
voice : and there shall be made one fold and one shepherd." * 
This was not to be accomplished by Himself personally, since 
He was not sent by His Father unless to the sheep that had 
strayed away of the house of Israel. It was to be effected by 
the ministry of His apostles ; and all His sheep were to be 
united in one fold under the charge of Peter. 

Apart from all tradition, and on the strictest principles of 
critical exegesis, the superior authority of Peter is proved from 
the Scripture. We cannot suppose the keys of the kingdom, 
the confirming of the brethren, the feeding of the lambs and 
sheep, to denote no special authority. We cannot capri- 
ciously extend to the other apostles a promise, charge, 
and commission, addressed especially to Peter alone. Christ 
is the Good Shepherd : He charges Peter to act in His 
stead. Thus, in withdrawing His sensible presence, He 
leaves Peter clothed with His authority, and indicates its 
kind and tender character by an image the most affecting. 

In very many circumstances our Lord by His actions 
signified the special power of Peter. From his bark He 
teaches the multitude : to him He gives the command to let 
down the net, and rewards his obedience by a miraculous 
draught of fishes : to him He promises that he shall henceforth 
catch men. He commands him to walk to Him on the waters, 
and stretches forth His hand to support him, when the weak- 
ness of the apostle's faith causes him to sink. He pays tribute 
for him, as well as for Himself. All these facts have forced 
themselves on the attention of the declared enemies of the 
primacy. Barrow supposes the excellent qualities of Peter for 
leadership to have disposed our Lord to grant him the prece- 
dency. " They," he observes, " probably might move our 
Lord Himself to settle, or at least to insinuate this order ; 
assigning the first place to him, whom He knew most will- 
ing to serve Him, and most able to lead on the rest in His 
service. It is indeed observable, that upon all occasions our 
Lord signified a particular respect to him, before the rest of 
his colleagues ; for to him more frequently than to any of 
them He directed His discourse ; unto him, by a kind of anti- 
cipation, He granted or promised those gifts and privileges, 
which He meant to confer on them all : him He did assume 



* John x. 16. 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



69 



as spectator and witness of His glorious transfiguration ; him 
He picked out as companion and attendant on Him in His 
grievous agony ; his feet He first washed ; to him He did first 
discover Himself after His resurrection, (as Saint Paul im- 
plieth) and with him then He did entertain most discourse ; in 
especial manner recommending to him the pastoral care of the 
Church ; by which manner of proceeding our Lord may seem 
to have constituted St. Peter the first in order among the 
apostles, or sufficiently to have hinted His mind for their direc- 
tion, admonishing them by His example to render unto him a 
special deference."* After such admissions, the reader must 
be surprised to find Barrow denying all authoritative primacy 
in the apostle. St. Francis de Sales, with his ordinary simpli- 
city and force, exhibits the privileges of the prince of the apos- 
tles, as insinuated under various images in the divine writings : 
— " Is the Church likened unto a house ? It is placed on the 
foundation of a rock, which is Peter. Will you represent it 
under the figure of a family ? You behold our Redeemer paying 
the tribute as its Master, and after Him comes Peter as His 
representative. Is the Church a bark ? Peter is its pilot ; and 
it is our Redeemer who instructs him. Is the doctrine by 
which we are drawn from the gulf of sin represented by a 
fisher's net ? It is Peter who casts it ; it is Peter who draws 
it ; the other disciples lend their aid ; but it is Peter that pre- 
sents the fishes to our Redeemer. Is the Church represented 
by an embassy ? Saint Peter is at its head. Do you prefer 
the figure of a kingdom ? Saint Peter carries its keys. In 
fine, will you have it shadowed under the symbol of a flock 
and a fold ? Saint Peter is the shepherd and universal pastor 
under Jesus Christ." f 

The occasion of promising this power was the confession 
which Peter made of the divinity of Christ, and the decla- 
ration of greater love than that of the other apostles was 
required, before its collation ; yet the office was not merely 
personal. The reward was the greater, because it was to be 
perpetuated in his successors. The power promised was di- 
rected to the advantage of the Church, which was to last 
throughout ages : the charge given regarded all the sheep 
of Christ, who were to be gathered into his fold at any 
period of time. The image of a foundation presents the 

* Barrow on the Supremacy. 

t Controverses de S. Franc, de Sales, disc. 42. 



70' 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



idea of permanent support : the fabric cannot subsist with- 
out a foundation : the kingdom of Christ must always have a 
ruler, bearing the keys, and exercising the sovereign powers 
under Christ ; the brethren need always to be confirmed 
in faith : the lambs and sheep of Christ at all times 
need the care, guidance and protection of a shepherd, who 
may keep them all in one sheepfold. Since the powers 
of hell cannot prevail against the Church, the fundamental 
authority of Peter can never cease : since the visible kingdom 
of Christ shall endure to the end of time, there must be 
always a viceroy governing in His name : since the prayer 
of Christ is always heard for His reverence, the faith of 
Peter can never fail : there shall be always one fold, there 
shall be likewise one shepherd. If there be anything 
clear in Scripture, it is the promise of the primacy and its 
institution. " To thee," says Christ, " I will give the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven." " I have prayed for thee that thy 
faith fail not : and thou being once converted, confirm thy 
brethren." " Feed My lambs, feed My sheep." He distin- 
guishes this apostle from the rest : " Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-jona." He addresses him repeatedly and emphatically. 
" Simon, Simon." He calls for special and reiterated declara- 
tions of attachment : " Dost thou love Me more than these ? " 
As the powers given to the apostles generally are believed to 
be continued in their successors — as the authority to teach, 
baptize, and otherwise concur to the salvation of men by mi- 
nisterial functions, is perpetual ; so must the peculiar 
privileges of Peter be recognised in the occupants of his See. 
If among the apostles it was proper that one should preside 
for the sake of order and unity, a leader is still more neces- 
sary for a body so numerous as their successors. A ruler 
is indispensable for a kingdom so extensive as the Church 
actually diffused throughout all nations, lest being divided, 
it be brought to desolation : a pastor for the whole flock 
is essential at all times, that the unity of the sheepfold 
may be maintained. Thus, by the very same line of argument 
by which we infer the perpetuity of the apostolic ministry, we 
are led to acknowledge the headship, or primacy, as a perma- 
nent institution of Christ. 

What, then, is the character of this primacy ? Limiting 
myself for the present to the sacred text, I answer, that it is a 
fundamental principle of church organization, having the same 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



71 



relation to the universal Church, as the foundation has to the 
building : it is a central authority uniting all the parts of the 
sacred edifice, which rest on it necessarily and inseparably. 
Peter was constituted the vicegerent of Christ, having received 
from Him the keys of the kingdom, and consequently a pleni- 
tude of authority, delegated, however, and subordinate to that 
of Christ ; and his successor inherits his power. The primate 
of the Church is bound to confirm his brethren in the faith, which 
he must maintain as originally delivered, opposing, by all the 
weight of his authority, every error adverse to its integrity. 
He is powerful for the truth : powerless against the truth. He 
must feed the lambs and sheep of Christ with salutary pas- 
tures : he must use pastoral vigilance, lest they stray away, 
and employ due care to re-conduct to the fold those that have 
actually strayed. Since Christ represents Himself under the 
image of a good shepherd, in giving to Peter the command to 
feed His lambs and sheep, He imparts the highest authority 
under the most tender image. 

It is not difficult to reconcile the headship of Peter with 
that of Christ. The apostle tells us that Christ has instituted 
the ministry, " that performing the truth in charity, we may 
in all things grow up in Him who is the head, Christ ; from 
whom the whole body, compacted and fitly joined together, by 
whatever joint supplieth, according to the operation in the 
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto 
the edifying of itself in charity."* Christ is clearly styled 
the head in this place, in a way in which Peter cannot be so de- 
signated. Every grace by which the mind is enlightened, and 
the will moved, and the Church built up in faith and charity, 
is derived from Christ ; not from Peter, whose office is ministe- 
rial and external, and totally dependant on the supreme invisi- 
ble head. " Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Sa- 
viour of His body." f Who has ever thought of ascribing to 
Peter headship of this nature ? Who has ever regarded him 
as the Saviour of the Church ? God the Father hath made 
Christ "head over all the Church, which is His body, and 
the fulness of Him, who is filled all in all."J No one re- 
cognises Peter as head in this sense. Christ is " above all 
principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, and every 
name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that 

* Eph. iv. 15. f Ibid. v. 23. % Eph. i. 22. 



4 



72 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



which is to come."* The like cannot be said of Peter, who, 
under Christ, was only the visible head of the Church on earth, 
governing it according to the principles which He taught, and 
in virtue of the authority which He vouchsafed to delegate. 
Whoever deems such authority derogatory from the headship 
of Christ, must consider the viceroy of a monarch an antago- 
nist of his sovereign. 

The wisdom of Christ in appointing a ruler and pastor under 
Himself, to confirm and unite the brethren, is clearly apparent. 
Order can be maintained in a body of men only by some au- 
thority exercised by one, whatever be its origin, or its limits : 
and that authority should be proportioned to the importance 
of the objects to be attained, and the number of persons to 
be directed, or governed. A certain precedency of rank may 
suffice in a body, where objects dependent on the will of 
the members are at stake : but where high interests, in- 
dependent of the fluctuating views of men, are involved, 
a binding authority, divinely constituted and guarded, is ne- 
cessary. Even among the apostles a certain precedency 
was enjoyed by Peter, whilst our Lord was present. When 
He had withdrawn from the earth, and the apostolic band 
was augmented by a large number of bishops, and the 
Church was spread throughout many nations, every appear- 
ance of unity would soon have vanished, had there not been a 
central authority around which all might gather. This be- 
came still more necessary when the apostles closed their 
career, and their successors were multiplied, and scattered 
to the utmost bounds of civilization, and beyond them. 
Confusion of tongues would have ensued, had there not 
been a divinely-constituted leader. The professed subjection 
of all to Christ would not have restrained the vagaries of 
human opinion, or preserved the harmony of believers. 
Without an infinitude of miracles, in proportion to the num- 
ber of professors, and the diffusion of religion, there would 
have been no order, no unity, no faith ; and the evidence 
which our Lord referred to, for convincing the world that 
He was sent by the Father, namely, the union of His dis- 
ciples in the profession of revealed truth,f would have been 
utterly wanting. Whilst Christ was visibly present, the 
disciples gathered around Him, and were one family, He 



* Eph. i. 21. 



f John xvii. 21. 



INSTITUTION OF THE PRIMACY. 



73 



being the Head ; when He was about to withdraw His 
visible presence, He left Peter at the head of his brethren, 
pastor of the fold, and ruler of the kingdom, and conse- 
crating in his person the principle of unity, He rendered 
his office perpetual in his successors. To this divine ar- 
rangement we owe the preservation of the revealed truths 
and the unity of the Church. 

To all the apostles Christ promised the power of binding and 
loosing, which He conferred on all, by authorizing them to re- 
mit or retain sins. He gave to all a mission like that which 
He had received from His Father. He sent all of them to 
preach His Gospel to every creature, and ordered them to teach 
all nations all things whatsoever He had delivered ; promis- 
ing them His effectual assistance even to the end of time. The 
apostolic power of each one was, like that of Peter, co-exten- 
sive with the world : but Peter was pastor, ruler and superior. 
They were all equal in the episcopal character, and even in 
apostolic authority, with this difference, that their power was 
subordinate to his, and to be exercised necessarily in connexion 
and harmony with his, that even in their persons unity might 
be exhibited. His universal jurisdiction was a permanent at- 
tribute of his office, as pastor and ruler, to descend and con- 
tinue forever in his successors ; whilst theirs was a personal 
prerogative, of which the bishops would partake, without en- 
joying severally its plentitude. This distinction is gathered 
from the marked manner in which Christ addressed Peter in- 
dividually, whilst He promised and gave authority to the others 
in common, Peter being necessarily included. Bossuet beau- 
tifully observes : " The power divided among many imports its 
restriction : conferred on one alone, over all and without ex- 
ception, it bears the evidence of its plsnitude. All receive 
the same power, but not in the same degree, nor to the same 
extent. Jesus Christ commences by the chief, and in the per- 
son of the chief develops all His power — in order that we 
should learn that the ecclesiastical authority, being originally 
centred in one individual, has been diffused only on the condi- 
tion that it should always be reflected back on the principle of 
its unity, and that all they who share in it should be insepara- 
bly connected with that See, which is the common centre of all 
churches."* 



Discours sur l'unite de 1'Eglise, 1 par, 



CHAPTER V. 



fathers' EXPOSITION OP JOHN XXI. 

The charge given by our Lord to Peter, to feed His lambs and 
sheep, was understood by the early fathers to imply the com- 
munication of the highest authority under Christ Himself. Ori- 
gen, speaking of the excellence of charity, remarks, that our 
Lord required the profession of it from Peter, as a condition for 
receiving supreme authority in the Church : " When the su- 
preme POWER TO FEED THE SHEEP WAS GIVEN TO PETER, AND THE 

Church was founded on him, as on a rock,* the declaration 
of no other virtue than that of charity is required."-)- 

In his admirable treatise on the unity of the Church, Cy- 
prian insists, with great earnestness, on the provision made 
against heresy and schism by the promise made, and the pas- 
toral power subsequently given to Peter. Deploring the havoc 
of souls made by the enemy of man, who transforms himself into 
an angel of light, and puts forward his ministers as ministers of 
justice, he says: " This comes to pass, beloved brethren, because 
recourse is not had to the source of truth, and the head is not 
sought after, and the doctrine of the Heavenly Teacher is not 
regarded. If any one consider and examine these things, there 
is no need of a lengthy treatise and of arguments. The proof 
of faith is easy and compendious, because true. The Lord 
speaks to Peter : ' I say to thee, that thou art Peter, and on 
this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it. And to thee I will give the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind 
on earth, shall be bound also in heaven : and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.' And 

* Some manuscripts have : super terram : on the earth. 
f In Ep. ad Rom. i. v., n. 10. 



FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF JOHN XXI. 75 

again He says to him after His resurrection : ' Feed My sheep.' 
Upon that one individual He builds His Church, and to him He 
commits His sheep to be fed. And although, after His resurrec- 
tion, He gives to all the apostles equal power, and says : 6 As 
the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost : whose sins you shall forgive, they shall be forgiven 
them; whose sins you shall retain, they shall be retained;' 
yet, in order to manifest unity, He establishes, by His authority, 
the origin of the same unity, which begins from one. Even 
the other apostles were certainly what Peter was, being en- 
dowed with equal participation of honor and power ; but the 
beginning proceeds from unity, and the primacy is given to Pe- 
ter, that the Church of Christ may be shown to be one, and the 
chair one. All are pastors, and the flock is shown to be one, 
which is fed by the apostles with one accord, that the Church 
of God may be shown to be one. This one Church the Holy 
Ghost also designates, speaking in the person of our Lord in 
the Canticle of Canticles, ' My dove is one, My perfect one, she 
is one for her mother, the chosen one of her who bore her.' 
Does he who does not hold the unity of the Church, imagine 
that he holds the faith ? Does he who opposes and resists the 
Church, — who deserts the chair of Peter, on whom the Church 
was founded, — presume that he is in the Church, whilst the 
blessed apostle Paul teaches this same thing, and shows the 
sacrament of unity, saying : ' One body and one Spirit, one 
hope of your vocation, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 
God?'"* 

The words which I have put in italics were omitted by 
Erasmus in his edition of the works of St. Cyprian, published 
in 1521 : but restored by Paul Manutius in an edition made 
from manuscripts of great value, in 1563. They are quoted as 
far back as the year 582, by Pelagius II. in his second epistle 
to the Bishops of Istria, which forms a strong presumption in 
their favor, and they accord with the scope of the writer, and 
with his language on several other occasions. However, I 
can well afford to dispense with them, although I am con- 
vinced of their authenticity. 

The object of this whole work is to prove the inviolable unity 
of the Church ; and in the passage just quoted, St. Cyprian shows 



* L. de Unit. EccL 



76 



FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF JOHN XXI. 



how the efforts of Satan to estrange men from the Church, by 
corrupting their faith, or engaging them in schism, may be 
promptly and effectually defeated. He refers to the texts 
in which our Lord addresses Peter, and makes him special pro- 
mises. He admits that, in other circumstances, similar promises 
and equal power were given to all the apostles : " yet to mani- 
fest unity He established, by His authority, the origin of the 
same unity, which begins from one." This cannot mean that 
he merely insinuated and recommended unity by thus begin- 
ning with Peter; since Cyprian insists throughout that unity is 
enjoined, and is essential to the Church : it must mean that 
Christ established in Peter the principle and means of unity. 
" The other apostles were certainly what Peter was, being en- 
dowed with an equal participation of honor and power : " the 
apostolic office, dignity and jurisdiction were the same in all, 
but there was subordination for the maintenance of unity. 
The scope and the whole context show that Cyprian recognis- 
ed in Peter a central and connecting power, whereby truth 
should be preserved and order maintained. 

Barrow himself admits that St. Cyprian and other African 
doctors considered St. Peter to have received from Christ a 
primacy of order, which he styles a womanish privilege, as in 
truth it might be styled were mere precedence in rank given 
him ; but this is to blaspheme Christ, who cannot, without im- 
piety, be supposed to have bestowed an idle distinction. It 
is strange how this learned opponent of the supremacy should 
have allowed himself, through a desire to weaken the authori- 
ties which support it, to speak disrespectfully of Cyprian, Op- 
tat us, Augustin, and other luminaries of the African Church. 
" St. Cyprian," he says, " hath a reason for it somewhat more 
subtile and mystical, supposing our Lord did confer on him a 
preference of this kind to his brethren (who otherwise in pow- 
er and authority were equal to him) that he might intimate and 
recommend unity to us ; and the other African doctors (Opta- 
tus and St. Austin) do commonly harp on the same notion ! "* 
He adds, that the fathers generally seem to countenance this 
primacy ! Thus does he virtually abandon the case which he 
labors to defend. 

The same explanation of the texts in question constantly re- 



* A Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy, Suppos. 1. 



FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF JOHN XXI. 



77 



curs throughout the works of this eloquent prelate. In his 
book on the Virginal state, he observes : " Peter, to whom the 
Lord recommends the feeding and protection op His sheep, on 
whom He placed and founded the Church, denies that he has 
silver or gold, but says that he is rich in the grace of Christ."* 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, speaking of the witnesses of the 
resurrection, thus distinguishes Peter from the rest : " Peter 
testifies it, who before indeed denied Him, but who, after hav- 
ing confessed Him thrice, was ordered to feed His spiritual 
sheep."f It is clear that Cyril considered this command to 
have been given specially to Peter. 

In his golden work on the priesthood, by which he designates 
the episcopal office, Chrysostom argues from the charge given 
by Christ to Peter, to feed His sheep, that this is to be the prac- 
tical evidence of the love which we bear to our Redeemer. 
" Speaking with the prince of the apostles, He says : ' Peter, 
lovest thou Me ? ' and Peter answering affirmatively, He adds : 
4 If thou lovest Me, feed My sheep.' He designed to teach 
both Peter, and us all, His great benevolence and love for His 
Church : that by this means we also might cheerfully assume 
the care and charge of it. For why did He shed His blood ? 
Certainly that He might purchase the sheep, the care of which 
he committed to Peter, and to his successors.J Justly, there- 
fore, Christ thus spoke : 4 Who then is the faithful and prudent 
servant whom the Lord placed over His family ? ' "§ The 
inference which Chrysostom draws from the text does not im- 
ply anything inconsistent with its special application to Peter, 
whom he recognises as " endowed by Christ with special au- 
thority far surpassing the other apostles : for He says : 4 Peter, 
dost thou love Me more than all these V "|| Again, in his com- 
mentary on the Gospel of St. John, when expressly engaged in 
the exposition of the text, he asks : 44 Why does He address 
Peter concerning the sheep, passing by the others ? He was 

THE CHIEF OF THE APOSTLES, AND MOUTH OF THE DISCIPLES, AND 
HEAD OF THAT BODY : ON WHICH ACCOUNT PAUL ALSO WENT UP TO 
SEE HIM, IN PREFERENCE TO THE OTHERS. Showing him at the 

same time, that he must have confidence hereafter, He cancels 
the guilt of his denial, and gives him the presidency over the 



* L. de habitu virginum, § x. t Cat. xiv. 

\ t?ols pst* sxtwov. § L. ii., de sacerdotio. || Ibidem. 

5 



7? 



FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF JOHN XXI. 



brethren And He says : ' because thou lovest Me, preside 

over the brethren.' " # 

The pastoral and governing authority of Peter is clear- 
ly set forth by St. Ambrose in many places, in which he treats 
of the commission given to him by Christ, to feed His sheep. 
In his forty-sixth sermon he observes, " When he was thrice 
questioned by the Lord : ' Simon, dost thou love Me V he an- 
swered thrice, * Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.' The 
Lord says : ' Feed My sheep.' This was said thrice ; the tri- 
ple repetition serving to compensate for his former fault : for 
he who had denied the Lord thrice, confesses Him thrice, and 
as often as he had contracted guilt by his delinquency, he gains 
favor by his love. See, therefore, how profitable to Peter was 
his weeping. Before he wept, he fell ; after he wept he was 
chosen, and he who had been a prevaricator before, was made 
a pastor after his tears, and he received the government 
of others, who before had not governed himself." In his ex- 
position of the 118th PseJm, he says : " On this account Christ 
enjoined on Peter to feed His flock, and do the will of his Lord, 
because He knew his love."f In his commentary on Luke, 
Ambrose says of Peter : " He is afflicted because he is ques- 
tioned the third time, Dost thou love Me ? But the Lord does 
not doubt : He interrogates him, not to ascertain the fact, 
but to teach him, whom, when He was about to be ele- 
vated to heaven, He left to us as the vicar of His love. 
For thus you have : ' Simon, son of John, dost thou love Me 1 ' 
4 Thou knowest, Lord, that I love Thee.' Jesus said to him, 
4 Feed My lambs.' And because he alone of all professes his 
iove, he is preferred to all."J Peter, then, was made pastor 
and governor, and vicar of Jesus Christ, to perform to wards 
men the kind offices which divine love inspired, and was pre- 
ferred to all. 

The disciple of Ambrose does not differ from his master in 
the interpretation of the sacred text. Augustin writes : 
" For Peter himself, to whom He entrusted His sheep, as to 
another self, He willed to make one with Himself, that so He 

* Inc. xxi. Joan., horn, lxxxvii., t. iii. "Ott, d $tfistj (is rtpoWatfo tu>v 
'a&eifyw. Mr. Palmer translates : ' If thou lovest Me, protect the brethren.' 
Treatise on the Church, part vii., ch. 1., vol. ii., p. 461. It signifies to 
preside over rtposswss, qui imperium habent. 

t Enarr. xiii. % In Luc, 1. x., n. 175. 



FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF JOHN XXI, 



78 



might entrust His sheep to him ; that He might be the head, 
the other bear the figure of the body, that is, the Church ; 
and that, as man and wife, they might be two in one flesh."* 
This gives us the highest idea of the relation of Peter to Christ 
and to the flock. In entrusting him with the charge of the 
sheep, Christ made him as another self, putting him in His own 
place. Peter is said to represent the Church ; but evidently in 
his official character, as pastor of the whole flock, and in this 
respect he becomes, as it were, one with Christ, as the Church 
is one with her Divine spouse, by the mysterious union of 
faith and love. It gives us the greatest idea of his authority 
to say emphatically that Peter is the Church. Elsewhere, 
Augustin teaches that the other apostles were also commis- 
sioned to feed the flock, because all were sent to teach and 
administer the sacraments, but he is careful to mark the pre- 
rogative of Peter. "For deservedly, after His resurrection, 
the Lord delivered His sheep to Peter himself to feed ; for he 
was not the only one among the disciples who was thought 
worthy to feed the Lord's sheep. But when Christ speaks to 
one, unity is commended ; and to Peter above all, because 
Peter is the first among the apostles."f It is strange that 
Mr. Allies can discover, in these passages, views favorable to 
the patriarchal system, as distinguished by him from the papal, 
whilst unity is so plainly declared to have been provided for 
by the commission to Peter alone, and above all. St. Augus- 
tin justly infers from it the authority which all bishops have 
received, to feed the sheep of Christ, since the power granted 
to him was communicable to others : " Therefore hath the 
Lord commended His sheep to us, because He commended 
them to Peter."J It may be said in a sense very different 
from that of Mr. Allies : " Thus Peter's commission is viewed, 
not as excluding, but as including all the rest."§ 

That Peter received charge of the sheep of Christ, in a 
special manner, is declared by Augustin, when enumerating 
the motives which retained him in the Church : " I am re- 
tained," said he, " by the succession of priests from the very 
See of the apostle Peter, to whom our Lord, after His resur- 

* Tom. v., 240 F., quoted by Mr. Allies, p. 57. 
t Tom. v., 1195 F., apud eundem. 
% Tom. v., 1199 D., 1202 F., apud eundem. 
§ Church of England cleared, &c, p. 68. 



80 



FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF JOHN XXI. 



rection, entrusted the feeding of His sheep, down to the ac- 
tual bishop."* 

St. Leo beautifully expounds the pastoral commission in 
connexion with the charge to confirm the brethren, and the 
prayer of Christ for its fulfilment : " Since, therefore, beloved, 
we see such a protection divinely granted to us, reasonably 
and justly do we rejoice in the merits and dignity of our chief, 
rendering thanks to the Eternal King, our Redeemer, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, for having given so great a power to him 
whom He made chief of the whole Church, that if anything, 
even in our time, by us be rightly done and rightly ordered, it 
is to be ascribed to his working, to his guidance, unto whom 
it was said : 'And thou, being once converted, confirm thy bre- 
thren :' and to whom the Lord, after His resurrection, in an- 
swer to the triple profession of eternal love, thrice said with 
mystical intent, 4 Feed My sheep.' And this, beyond a doubt, 
the pious shepherd doth even now, and fulfils the charge of 
his Lord ; strengthening us with his exhortations, and not 
ceasing to pray for us, that we may be overcome by no tempta- 
tion."t The great power granted to Peter especially, and to 
his successors, is strongly declared by the holy pontiff, who 
justly ascribes the constancy in faith which distinguishes the 
occupants of the See to the prayer of Christ, that the faith of 
Peter might not fail. 

St. Gregory the Great writes : " To all who know the 
Gospel, it is manifest that the charge of the whole Church 
was entrusted by the voice of the Lord to the holy apostle 
Peter, chief of all the apostles. For to him is said : Peter, 
lovest thou Me ? Feed My sheep."£ This commission im- 
plied the charge of the whole Church. 

Although I have generally confined my quotations to the 
fathers of the six first ages, I cannot refrain from giving the 
reader the benefit of the reasoning of St. Bernard, " the last 
of the fathers in age, but equal to the first in glory,*' as Mr. 
Allies describes him. Addressing Pope Eugenius, he says : 
" You are he to whom the keys were given ; to whom the 
sheep were entrusted. There are, indeed, likewise, other 
gate-keepers of heaven, and shepherds of the flocks ; but you 



* L. contra epist. Manichaji, quam vocant fundamenti. 
| In Anniv. Consecr. J Lib. v., ep. xx. 



FATHERS' EXPOSITION OF JOHN XXI. 



81 



have inherited both titles in a sense far different and more 
sublime. They have, each of them, their respective flocks 
severally assigned to them : all have been entrusted to you ; 
one flock to one man. Nor are you shepherd of the sheep 
alone, but of the shepherds also ; the one shepherd of all. 
Do you ask me how I prove this ? From the word of the Lord. 
For to which I do not say of the bishops, but of the apostles 
themselves, were the sheep committed so absolutely and un- 
reservedly ? ' If thou lovest Me, Peter, feed My sheep.' 
What sheep ? The people of this or that district, city, or 
kingdom ? * My sheep,' He says. Who does not manifestly 
see that He did not particularize any, but assigned them all 
to him ? None are excepted where no distinction is made. 
The other disciples were perchance present, when entrusting 
all to one, He recommended unity to all, in one flock and one 
shepherd ; according to that passage : ' My dove is one, My 
beautiful one, My perfect one.' "* This exposition, which is 
strictly literal, is fully sustained by the testimonies of the 
early fathers, which I have already quoted, as well as by the 
acts of pastoral authority exercised by Peter, and recorded in 
the divine writings. 



* L. ii., de Consider., c. viii. 



CHAPTER VI. 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



It is impossible not to be struck by the prominent part which 
Peter acted in the establishment of the Church. Whilst the 
disciples were awaiting the fulfilment of the promise of Christ, 
and preparing by prayer for the coming of the Paraclete, Peter 
arose, and proposed to fill the vacancy which the fall of Judas 
had occasioned. By divine illumination he unfolds the mean- 
ing of the sacred oracles which predicted the treachery of this 
apostle, and directed that another should take his bishopric : 
he determines the qualifications of the successor : and if he 
does not himself choose the individual, it is from no defect of 
power, but to give a laudable example of its moderate exer- 
cise. This condescension is justly admired by the eloquent 
Bishop of Constantinople : " Being fervent and entrusted by 
Christ with the care of the flock, and being the leader of the 
band, he is always the first to speak. — Why did he not himself 
alone beseech Christ to give him some one in the place of Ju- 
das ? Why do not the brethren of themselves undertake the 
election? — See how he does all things with the general consent, 
nothing arbitrarily, nothing imperiously — Men brethren, he 
says. Since the Lord called His disciples brethren, still more 
should he style them such. Wherefore he addressed them, all 
being present. Behold the dignity of the Church, and its an- 
gelic state. — Why does he communicate with them on this 
matter ? Lest it become a subject of dispute, and they fall into 
dissensions. — He leaves the choice to the judgment of the mul- 
titude, thus securing their regard for the objects of their choice, 
and freeing himself from jealousy. — Could not Peter himself 
have chosen the individual ? By all means : but he abstains 
from doing it lest he should appear to indulge partiality. — He 
is the first to proceed in this matter, because all have been de- 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



ss 



livered over into his hands i for to him Christ said : Thou be- 
ing once converted, confirm thy brethren."* It is gratifying to 
be able to show in what light this act was viewed by so bright 
an ornament of the Greek Church in the fourth century — one 
of the most illustrious men of antiquity — one occupying the 
chair of the rival city, the new Rome. In the conduct of Peter 
on this occasion Chrysostom recognises a splendid instance of 
the moderate use of supreme power. 

A still more illustrious exercise of the high office of Peter, as 
guardian of the faith, occurs in the history of the first Council 
of Jerusalem. Great excitement was caused at Antioch by 
certain Judaizing Christians, who insisted that the converts 
from the Gentiles should be subjected to circumcision and the 
legal observances. " Paul and Barnabas had no small contest 
with them,"t without being able to induce all to acquiesce in 
their judgment ; wherefore it was determined that they " and 
certain others of the other side, should go up to the apostles 
and priests to Jerusalem about this question." " Accordingly 
the apostles and ancients came together to consider of this 
matter, and when there was much disputing, Peter rising up 
said to them : Men, brethren, you know that in former days 
God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth 
should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, who 
knoweth the hearts, gave them testimony, giving to them the 
Holy Ghost as well as to us : and made no difference between 
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, 
why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disci- 
ples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear ? 
But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be 
saved even as they." The result of this address is worthy of 
attention : "'All the multitude held their peace. "J There had 
been previously at Antioch great opposition and contest, not- 
withstanding the reverence due to the apostolic character in 
Paul and Barnabas : and the collision of sentiment had been 
renewed in the Council with considerable feeling. Peter, 
speaking, reminds them that he had been chosen to announce 
the Gospel to the Gentiles, and that God had given evidences 
of His favor towards them ; he reproaches them for seeking to 

* Chrysost., horn, iii., in 1 cap. Act. f Acts xv. 2. 

% Ibid. xv. 12. 



84 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



burden them unnecessarily with the multifarious observances 
of the ceremonial law, and declares the great principle of faith 
in Jesus Christ, as the only foundation of hope for Jew or Gen- 
tile. No sooner has he spoken than all acquiesce : no mur- 
mur, no dissenting voice is heard : all opposition ceases : and 
whoever rises to speak, only confirms, like Paul and Barnabas, 
by the narrative of miraculous facts, what Peter had declared 
of the favor shown by God to the Gentiles ; or, like James, re- 
fers to the prophecies, adding the suggestion* of measures to 
be decreed, that the principle might be carried into successful 
execution. I do not see how any man can read the simple 
history of this controversy, as penned by the inspired writer, 
without perceiving the great weight of Peter's authority in its 
termination. The letter of the Council drawn up in the name 
of the apostles and ancients, expresses the principle laid down 
by Peter, and the practical measure suggested by James, and 
it is declared to emanate from the Holy Ghost : " it hath seem- 
ed good to the Holy Ghost and to us."f The writers of an- 
tiquity speak of it as the sentence or decree of Peter. In the 
beginning of the third century, Tertullian describes it as the 
exercise of his power of binding and loosing : " the decree of 
Peter loosed such things of the law as were set aside, and 
bound fast such as were retained."J St. Jerom says that Pe- 
ter was the author of this decree ;§ and the celebrated Theo- 
doret, Bishop of Cyr, speaks of the controversy as a matter re- 
ferred by Paul to Peter, that by his authority it might be definite- 
ly settled. Writing to Leo, he says: " If Paul, who was the 
herald of truth, the organ of the Holy Spirit, had recourse to 
the great Peter, in order to obtain a decision from him con- 
cerning the observances of the law, for those who disputed at 
Antioch on this subject ; with much greater reason we, who 
are abject and weak, have recourse to your Apostolic See, 
that we may receive from 3-ou remedies for the wounds of the 
churches : for it is fit that you in all things should be first, 

* x^ivc* " I judge," is the simple expression of sentiment, whether authori- 
tative, or void of authority. See Thucydid. iv. 60. It corresponds to the 
Latin censeo. 

t Acts. xv. 28. I L. de pudicitia. 

§ " Principem hujus fuisse decreti." S. Hieron. Aug. Ep. 45, alias xi., in- 
ter August. T. 8, col. 172, torn. ii. 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



8^ 



since your throne is adorned with many prerogatives."* Cave, 
the learned Anglican critic, explains the words of Paul, that 
" he went to Jerusalem to see Peter," of his going up on this 
occasion, " Peter being the leading character in the Council."! 

St. Chrysostom calls our attention to the wisdom with 
which Peter permitted the discussion, before he interposed his 
authority : " See," says he, " he allows the inquiry and dispute 
to go on, and then he himself speaks." J As an evidence of the 
harmony and condescension which prevailed in the Council, he 
remarks that Paul was allowed to speak after Peter had pro- 
nounced judgment : " See, Paul speaks after Peter, and no one 
closes his mouth."§ Even Barrow cannot dissemble the pro- 
minent part which St. Peter bore in this Council and in aposto- 
lic assemblies generally : " At the consultation," he observes, 
" about supplying the place of Judas, he rose up, proposed, and 
pressed the matter. At the convention of the apostles and 
elders, about resolving the debate concerning observance of 
Mosaical institutions, he first rose up, and declared his sense. 
In the promulgation of the Gospel, and defence thereof, before 
the Jewish rulers, he did assume the conduct, and constantly 
took upon him to be the speaker ; the rest standing by him, 
implying assent, and ready to avow his word."|| 

It has pleased the Holy Spirit to leave on record but a few 
of the circumstances connected with this model of Councils : 
but these few sufficiently show that Peter was there, that he 
either called the Council, or assented to its convocation ; that 
he spoke with authority and effect, silencing all disputation by 
his discourse ; and that the decree was in strict conformity 
with his judgment. The forms are of little importance where 
the authority is fully respected and admitted. To be Prince 
and Primate in the Church of God, it was not necessary that 
he should stand alone, separated from his colleagues in the 
apostleship and episcopacy, and resting solely on the preroga- 
tive of his station. It is delightful to see him in the Council 

* Ad Leonem. Ep. cxiii. 

f Petrum ibi convenit, occasione, ut videtur, concilii apostolici — cujus 
Petrus pars magna fuit." Saec. Ap. p. 6. 

X S. Chrys., horn, xxii., in c. xv., Act. Ap., p. 259, torn. iii. Edit. Paris, 
1687. 

$ Horn, xxxiii., p. 260. 

|| A Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy. Supposition L 



86 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



of his brethren, causing the ardor of disputation to subside by 
authoritative instruction, and enlightening the minds of his 
colleagues, and of the faithful, by unfolding to them the oracles 
of God. The decree which expresses his judgment, and that of 
his colleagues, and the faith of the whole Church, is no way 
derogatory from his high prerogative. 

The eloquent Bishop of Meaux presents, at one view, the va- 
rious circumstances in which Peter appears foremost : " Pe- 
ter," says he, " appears the first on all occasions : the first to 
confess the faith ; the first to express his obligation of love ; 
the first of all the apostles who saw Christ after His resurrec- 
tion, as he was the first to bear testimony to this fact before 
all the people. We find him first, when there was ques- 
tion of filling up the number of the apostles ; the first who 
confirmed the faith by a miracle, the first to convert the 
Jews, the first to receive the Gentiles ; in short, everything 
occurs to establish his supremacy."* Even Potter remarks : 
" Our Lord appeared to Peter after His resurrection, before the 
rest of the apostles ; and, before this, He sent the message of 
His resurrection to him in particular." Having specified the 
various acts of Peter after the ascension of our Lord, this Pro- 
testant prelate concludes thus : " From these and other exam- 
ples which occur in the Scriptures, it is evident that St. Peter 
acted as chief of the college of apostles, and so he is constant- 
ly described by the primitive writers of the Church, who call 
him the Head, the President, the Prolocutor, the Chief, the 
Foreman of the apostles, with several other titles of distinc- 
tion."! 

Against facts which so strongly mark the superior authority 
of Peter, a term of equivocal import used by the sacred histo- 
rian is sometimes objected. " When the apostles who were in 
Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had received the word of 
God, they sent to them Peter and John."J To send ordinarily 
supposes the superiority of him who sends ; but the term is 
often used, where solicitation, counsel, and the expression of 
desire are only meant. When the tribes of Ruben and Gad, 
and half the tribe of Manasses, had erected an altar near the 

* Discours sur 1 'unite de l'Eglise. 
\ On Church Government, pp. 72, 74. 
\ Acts viii. 14. 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 87 

Jordan, the children of Israel " sent to them into the land of 
Galaad, Phinees, the son of Eleazar the priest, and ten princes 
with him, one of every tribe."* This mission derogated in no 
degree from the high dignity of the priesthood, since it was 
doubtless a proposal made and accepted, rather than a com- 
mand given with authority. When the dispute concerning 
the ceremonial law arose at Antioch, " they determined that 
Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of the other side, should 
go up to the apostles and priests to Jerusalem, about this ques- 
tion."! This language is certainly as strong, at least, as if it 
were said : " They sent Paul and Barnabas ;" and yet no one 
thence infers that these apostles were inferior to the multitude 
at whose solicitation they undertook this journey. The apos- 
tles at Jerusalem sent Peter and John to Samaria, by urging 
the expediency of the visit, not by a positive injunction : for 
no one pretends that these apostles were inferior in authority 
to the/ rest, as they certainly would have been, if they had 
acted under a positive command. 

The condescension of St. Peter in explaining the motives of 
his conduct to the disciples who murmured against him, on 
account of his having admitted Cornelius and his family into 
the Church, is perfectly consistent with the supremacy of his 
office. Superiors cannot prevent the murmurs of their sub- 
jects, nor silence them effectually by an appeal to their own 
authority. Persuasion must often be employed to convince 
them that the exercise of power is not capricious, or ill-ad- 
vised. But if the faithful knew Peter to be supreme ruler 
of the Church on earth, it is said they would not have dared 
question the wisdom of his acts. It did not, indeed, become 
them to question it : yet since the Jews of other times mur- 
mured against Moses, whose mission was proved by stupen- 
dous prodigies, need we wonder that some of the first be- 
lievers ventured to dispute the propriety of a certain course 
pursued by Peter ? The prejudices of nations do not always 
yield instantaneously to religious influences, and the distinc- 
tion of castes is not easily forgotten. The Jews regarded the 
heathens with an aversion bordering on abhorrence, so that 
with the evidence before them of the communication of the 
gifts of the Holy Ghost to Cornelius and his family, they were 



* Josue xxii. 13, 14. 



f Acts xv. 2. 



88 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



filled with amazement. St. Gregory the Great derives from 
the conduct of Peter, on this occasion, a lesson of humility : 
" When Peter was blamed by the faithful, had he regarded 
the authority which he had received in the Holy Church, he 
might have answered, that the sheep should not dare reprove 
the shepherd, to whom they had been entrusted. But if, on 
the complaint of the faithful, he had made mention of his own 
power, he would not truly have been the teacher of meekness. 
He appeased them, therefore, in an humble manner, and in 
the case for which they blamed him, he even brought forward 
witnesses : ' These six brethren came also with me.' Since 
then the pastor of the Church, the prince of the apostles, he 
who performed in an extraordinary manner signs and mira- 
cles, did not disdain humbly to give an explanation of the 
conduct for which he was blamed, how much more should we 
who are sinners, when we are blamed for anything, be ready 
to appease our censors by humble explanation ? "* 

The strongest objection adduced against the superior au- 
thority of Peter is the resistance made to him by Paul, and 
the rebuke given him on account of his declining familiar in- 
tercourse with the converted Gentiles, through fear of offend- 
ing the Jews who had recently arrived at Antioch. I have 
elsewhere stated the doubts entertained by some learned men 
as to the identity of Cephas with the apostle :f but waiving 
this critical point, I see nothing in bold remonstrance, such as 
Paul used, inconsistent with the supremacy of him to whom 
it was addressed. The matter in question was of mere pru- 
dence and expediency, where offence was sure to be given, 
whichever course might be pursued ; and Cephas having 
adopted a line of conduct offensive to the Gentiles, and preju- 
dicial to the liberty which we have in Christ, Paul, prompted 
by zeal for the Gentile converts, remonstrated in strong lan- 
guage, and in a public manner : " When Cephas was come to 
Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was blame- 
able — when I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the 
truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas, before them all : If thou, 
being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not 

* L. xi., ep. xiv. 

f " Letters on the Primacy," p. 51, and Theologia Dogmatica, vol. i. p. 
157. See also Dissertazione 32 su Cefa ripreso da S. Paolo, nella raccolta 
del Padre F. A. Zaccaria. 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



S9 



of the Jews, how dost thou compel the Gentiles to follow the 
way of the Jews ? "* What the apostle here calls walking not 
uprightly unto the truth of the Gospel, he terms likewise dissi- 
mulation, meaning plainly a course inconsistent with the in- 
genuous and independent avowal of the great principle of 
Gospel liberty : not a betrayal of divine truth, by teaching 
erroneous doctrine. No one pretends that either apostle de- 
viated from the faith, or that Paul reproved Peter, as a supe- 
rior checks an inferior. " Paul reproved Peter," says Tertul- 
lian, " for no other reason, however, than the change of his 
mode of living, which he varied according to the class of 
persons with whom he associated ; not for any corruption of 
divine truth."f Augustin, speaking of this fact, admires the 
intrepidity of Paul and the humility of Peter : " a just liber- 
ty," he says, " is to be admired in Paul, and holy humility in 
Peter."J Gregory the Great cries out : " Behold, he is re- 
proved by his inferior, and he does not disdain to receive the 
reproof : he does not remind him that he has received the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven."§ 

The respect of Paul for Peter is evident from this same 
epistle ; for, although, in order to convince the Galatians of 
the divine origin of the doctrine which he delivered, he states 
that those who appeared to be pillars in the Church, contri- 
buted nothing to his instruction, and that on his conversion 
he had not gone to Jerusalem to the apostles, who preceded 
him in the profession of the faith, he adds : " three years after 
I came to Jerusalem to see Peter, and stayed with him fifteen 
days."|| This visit is considered by St. Chrysostom to be an 
evidence of the high regard of Paul for the official character 
of Peter. " Peter," he observes, " was the organ and prince 
of the Apostles : on which account Paul went up to see him 
in preference to the rest."^[ Paul, indeed, did not go with a 
view to obtain instruction, for he had been favored with a 
divine revelation: he entertained no doubt whatever of the 
correctness of his doctrine : he was equal in the apostolic dig- 
nity to Peter : and he may have been greater in personal 
qualifications and merit ; yet he went to him as to a superior, 
honoring the office which he held by divine appointment. 

* Gal. ii. 11, 14. f L. v. contra Marcion, c. iii. 

% Ep. lxxxii., alias xxii. § L. ii. in Ezech., horn, xviii. 
1| Gal. i. 18. «[f Horn, lxxxvii., in Joan. 



• 



90 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



"After so many illustrious actions, although he stood in no 
need of Peter, or of his instruction, being equal in dignity to 
him,* (for I shall say no more,)f he goes up to him as to a su- 
perior and elder, and he had no other motive for the visit, but 
merely to see Peter. Remark how he pays them (the apostles) 
due honor, and regards himself not only as no better, but not 
even as equal to them. This is evident from his journey ; for 
as many of our brethren now travel to visit holy men, so Paul 
likewise, with a similar disposition, went up to Peter. This 
was even much more humble on his part : for men now travel 
for their own improvement ; but this blessed apostle went to 
learn nothing, and to be set right on no point, but for this only 
motive, to see him, and honor him by his presence. He 
uses the term : icrropieni ; to become acquainted with Peter, 
not <te merely to see Peter. He went to become thoroughly 
acquainted with him, as visitors seek to know thoroughly 
great and splendid cities."J 

St. Paul states, that to himself was committed the Gospel of 
the uncircumcision, as to Peter was that of the circumcision ; § 
whence occasion has been taken to deny the general autho- 
rity of Peter over Gentiles and Jews ; or, in other words, over 
all the members of the Church. The text, however, cannot 
be understood of exclusive jurisdiction over either class as 
belonging to either apostle, since Paul, as occasion presented 
itself, instructed Jews as well as Gentiles ; and Peter received 
the Gentiles, Cornelius and his family, into the Church. The 
apostle speaks manifestly of the chief objects of his zeal, 
since he was emphatically the teacher of the Gentiles, whilst 
Peter labored chiefly among the Jews. " St. Peter," says 
Bloomfield, " was chiefly, buf not entirely, occupied by the 
Jews, and St. Paul chiefly, but not wholly, with the Gen- 
tiles."!! The universality of the mission of all the apostles 
is unquestionable — it was not confined to certain classes of 
men, or bounded by territorial limits — they were sent into 
the whole world, to preach the Gospel to every creature. St. 
Paul, being called in an extraordinary manner to the apostle- 

* tooT't/ioj, equally honorable. 

f He insinuates that Paul may have been greater than Peter in merit, 
talent, virtue, or other personal qualifications. 

\ Chrysostom, in c. i., ep. ad. GaL $ Gal. ii. 7. 

|| In locum. 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



n 



ship, participated in the plenitude of the original commission, 
which is not at all inconsistent with the supervision, presi- 
dency, and chief government of the whole Church, with which 
Peter was invested. 

The language of St. Peter himself, addressing his colleagues 
in the sacred ministry, although objected as excluding all 
idea of superior control, is, nevertheless, in perfect harmony 
with his high prerogatives : " The ancients, therefore, that 
are among you, I beseech, who am myself also an ancient and 
a witness of Christ."* The term Tp£<r(ivTepovs, presbyters, here 
rendered ancients was then applied to bishops, whom St. Peter 
addressed, declaring himself their fellow-bishop, trv^p^unpoc,. 
Perfect equality cannot be meant by this expression, since, as 
an apostle, he was certainly superior to a local bishop. The 
character of bishop is undoubtedly the same as that of an 
apostle ; but the jurisdiction of an apostle, being universal, 
far exceeds that of him who is charged with a special flock. 
The very fact of the general address of Peter to the bishops, 
whom he exhorts, and entreats to perform their pastoral duties 
in an humble, exemplary and disinterested manner, affords no 
slight presumption of his general superintendence and con- 
trol. His language is such as certainly the chief pastor would 
appropriately employ : " Feed the flock of God which is 
among you : taking care not by constraint, but willingly ac- 
cording to God : neither for the sake of filthy lucre, but vo- 
luntarily : neither as domineering over the clergy, but being 
made a pattern of the flock from the heart. And when the 
Prince of Pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never- 
fading crown of glory."f Grotius has well remarked, that 
this epistle is worthy of the prince of the apostles. 

Paul instructed Timothy and Titus, his disciples, whom, 
with his own hands, he had consecrated bishops : at Miletus 
he addressed the bishops from Ephesus, who were in like 
manner his special disciples : as an apostle he could direct his 
admonitions to any bishop : but it seems not without a special 
design of the Holy Ghost, to have happened that Peter, writ- 
ing to the strangers — proselytes to Judaism first, and then to 
Christianity, dispersed through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia and Bithynia, should have given solemn injunctions to 



* 1 Pet. v. 1 



f Ibidem, 2—4. 



02 



EXERCISE OF THE PRIMACY BY ST. PETER. 



all the bishops of those countries, on the duties of their 
charge. 

The exercise of the most important functions of the pri- 
macy is thus plainly proved from the sacred Scriptures. To 
provide pastors for the churches is the right and duty of the 
pastor of the whole flock ; a right, however, which is to be 
exercised with a sacred regard for the interests of the uni- 
versal Church. This was done by Peter, in supplying the 
place of Judas. To see that the pastors perform their duties 
to their respective flocks, appertains to the same office. To 
decide, or take a prominent part in deciding doctrinal con- 
troversies, which is a duty of the chief pastor, was mani- 
festly performed by Peter, in the Council of Jerusalem. He 
truly exercised a primatial authority, which shows that the 
commission given to him imparted power to maintain unity 
and faith. 

It is not necessary to show that Peter actually exercised all 
and every one of the attributes of spiritual sovereignty, es- 
pecially since we have no detailed history of the apostolic 
age ; the Acts of the Apostles being confined to a few facts 
connected with the commencement of the Church, and an ac- 
count of the conversion and chief labors of St. Paul. Since 
the promise of Christ, His charge to Peter at the last supper, 
and His commission after His resurrection, convey the idea 
of a viceroy, superintendant and pastor ; and the prominent 
part taken by Peter corresponds with this idea : we are war- 
ranted in believing him to have possessed and exercised a 
true supremacy. I am not now anxious to demonstrate his 
essential rights : I ask only that his primacy, which is so 
clearly established, be admitted. I produce his commission 
with the seal of the Great King, and demand that it be re- 
spected. 



CHAPTER VIL 



PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 



Having proved from the sacred Scripture, on strict principles 
of exegesis, and according to the general interpretation of the 
fathers of the first five centuries, that Peter received from 
Christ an authoritative primacy, which must always continue 
in the Church, to be exercised by his successors, it becomes 
necessary to show who succeeds to his privileges. The task 
is an easy one, as the voice of all antiquity proclaims the 
Bishop of Rome to be the successor of Peter. There have 
been some bold men who have pushed scepticism so far as to 
deny that St. Peter ever was at Rome, as some unbelievers 
have questioned whether Jesus Christ ever existed ; but even 
Calvin? with every disposition to deny the fact, blushed to op- 
pose the testimony of all the ancients ; # whilst Cave strongly 
and fearlessly affirms it : " We intrepidly affirm with all an- 
tiquity, that Peter was at Rome, and for some time resided 
there." He adds : " All, both ancient and modern, will, I 
think, agree with me that Peter may be called Bishop of Rome, 
in a less strict sense,f inasmuch as he laid the foundations of 
this Church, and rendered it illustrious by his martyrdom. "J 
Babylon, from which the first letter of St. Peter was written, 
is understood by learned interpreters, Protestant as well as 
Catholic, to mean Rome ; the Christians being accustomed to 
designate it in this way on account of its vices, which resem- 
bled the corruption of the eastern city, and to avoid offence 
of the heathens. Thus St. John is generally understood to 
have portrayed the crimes and calamities of pagan Rome in 
the mysterious descriptions of the Apocalypse. 

* Inst., lib. iv., c. vi., § 15. 

t This qualification is wholly unnecessary. 

% Saec Apostol. S. Petrus. 

6 



94 



PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 



For a matter of fact human testimony is entirely sufficient, 
whenever it is clothed with those qualities which remove all 
just fear of deception. If it were otherwise, Christianity it- 
self would vanish from our grasp ; for its certain transmission 
to us implies a number of facts independent of any testimony 
of Scripture ; and the authenticity and integrity of the sacred 
books are dependent on human testimony, at least, for all who 
deny the authority of the Christian Church. 

Clement, Bishop of Rome, a contemporary of the apostles, 
who is mentioned with honor by St. Paul, and who was or- 
dained by Peter, according to the testimony of Tertullian, in 
a letter to the Corinthians, mentions Peter and Paul as having 
suffered martyrdom at Rome under his eyes.* Ignatius, Bishop 
of Antioch, when led to martyrdom, about the year 105, wrote 
to the Romans, begging of them to place no obstacle by their 
prayers to the fulfilment of his ardent desire to die for Christ : 
" I do not command you," he says, " as Peter and Paul : they 
were apostles: I am a condemned man/'f This shows that 
the Romans had been instructed by both apostles, and received 
their commands. Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, a disciple of 
John the apostle, or of another John, a contemporary of the 
apostle, states that Mark related in his Gospel what he heard 
from Peter at Rome, and that Peter wrote his first epistle from 
Rome, calling it Babylon. J Iren^us declares that Peter and 
Paul preached the Gospel at Rome, and established the 
Church, which he calls " greatest and most ancient, known to 
all, founded and established by the most glorious apostles, 
Peter and Paul and adds the list of bishops from the apos- 
tles down to his own time.§ 

Dionysius of Corinth, a writer of the second century, says 
that both apostles, Peter and Paul, instructed the Corinthians, 
and afterwards having passed into Italy, planted the faith among 
the Romans, and consummated their course by martyrdom in 
their city.|| Cajus, a Roman priest, who lived at the close of 
the second and beginning of the third century, says : " I can 
show you the trophies of the apostles ; for whether we go to 
the Vatican, or to the Ostian way, we shall meet with the tro- 

* Cor. n. 5, 6. f Ep. ad Rom. 

| Apud Euseb., 1. ii., c. xv., Hist. Eccl. 

§ L. iii. haer., c. iii. || Apud Euseb., 1. ii., c. xxv. 



PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 



95 



phies of the founders of this Church."* Origen also testifies 
that Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome.f St. Cyprian says 
that Cornelius was chosen bishop " when the place of Fabian, 
that is, the place of Peter, was vacant."J 

That Paul was not the original founder of the Church at 
Rome, is evident from his epistle to the Romans, in which he 
states his earnest desire to see them, which up to that time 
was out of his power, and praises their faith as celebrated 
throughout the whole world. We must, then, conclude that 
Peter had preached the faith, since all antiquity recognises 
no other founders of the Roman Church but these two apos- 
tles. Eusebius, who compiled his ecclesiastical history from 
the most authentic documents of the early ages, states that 
Simon Magus, after he had been publicly rebuked by Peter, 
went to Rome, and that to counteract his efforts, " the all- 
bountiful and kind Providence which watches over all things, 
conducted thither the most courageous and the greatest of 
the apostles, Peter, who, on account of his virtue, was leader 
of all."§ Theodoret, commenting on the passage of St. Paul, 
in which he expresses his desire to confirm the Romans in the 
faith, observes : " Because the great Peter was the first to 
instruct them in the evangelical doctrine, he necessarily said 
*■ to confirm you for he says : I do not mean to propose to 
you a new doctrine, but to confirm that which has been al- 
ready delivered, and to water the trees that have been 
planted."|| In a word : " The universal tradition of the 
Church," by the acknowledgment of Mr. Palmer, "ascribes 
the foundation or first government of the Roman Church to 
the apostles Peter and Paul, who were the greatest of the 
apostles."^[ 

It is, nevertheless, no easy matter to fix with certainty the 
precise date of the visit of the apostle to the capital of the 
empire, since ancient writers assign different periods, some 
probably referring to his second visit, whilst others speak of 
the former. With the few lights afforded us by Scripture, in 
regard to his movements and actions, and with the scanty his- 

* L. adv. Proculum apud Euseb., Hist. Eccl.,1. ii., c. xv. 
t lb. 1. iii., c. i. % Ep. lv. Antoniano. 

§ L. ii,, Hist. Eccl., c. xiv. (| Comm. in c. 1, ad Rom. 

■|f Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., ch. vii., p. 472. 



PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 



torical materials remaining, it would be unfair to require of 
us to adjust the chronological order of events, so as to exclude 
all question. Learned antiquarians have exercised their skill 
in arranging them, and we are at liberty to adopt the results 
of their inquiries, or to remain in suspense as to the particular 
order of the facts, provided we admit that which is established 
by most unquestionable evidence, that the apostle Peter 
preached the faith at Rome before St. Paul addressed his 
letter to the faithful of that city. In the former edition of 
this work, I followed the chronology of Bianchi : but at 
present, I choose rather to adhere to that which is learnedly 
supported by Foggini.* The letter to the Romans is generally 
assigned to the year of our Lord 58, the fourth year of the 
reign of Nero. Orosius, a writer of the fifth century, states 
that St. Peter came to Rome in the commencement of the 
reign of Claudius, who was the predecessor of Nero ; and St. 
Jerom, as well as Eusebius, ascribes his visit to the second 
year of that reign, about the forty-fourth year of our Lord, so 
that we may consider this fact as attested by three witnesses, 
who relied, no doubt, on ancient historical documents. It 
probably occurred soon after the miraculous deliverance of 
the apostle from prison, when rescued by the angel from the 
power of Herod. The See of Antioch had been previously 
founded by him, as the venerable consent of the ancients as- 
sures us ; but his stay there was short, although he may have 
retained the special charge of it for seven years, according to 
the computation of respectable writers ; its administration 
being confided to Evodius, who is the first on the list of its 
bishops after the apostle. Twenty-five years are generally 
assigned to the Roman episcopate of St. Peter, which period 
intervened between the second year of Claudius, who reigned 
fourteen years, and the close of the reign of Nero, which is 
also believed to have lasted fourteen years. The apostle was 
not, however, stationary, since he must have returned to Judea, 
where he was present in the Council of Jerusalem, held in the 
nineteenth year after the resurrection of our Lord, about the 
fifty-first of the common era. His return may have been 
spontaneous, or it may have been occasioned by the edict pub- 

* De Romano D. Petri itinere et episcopatu, P. F. Foggini. 



PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 



97 



lished in the ninth year of Claudius,* by which all Jews were 
commanded to quit the imperial city,f since the natives of 
Judea, whether practising Jewish rites, or professing Chris- 
tianity, were included under this general denomination. 
Whilst Nero occupied the throne, Peter visited Rome, as Lac- 
tantius testifies ; J which must be understood of a second visit, 
since the authority of Jerom, Eusebius, and Orosius is conclu- 
sive as to the visit under Claudius. St. Leo alludes to both, 
extolling the fortitude of the apostle, who dreaded neither the 
power of Claudius, nor the cruelty of Nero.§ 

The concurrence of both apostles in the foundation of the 
Church of Rome does not at all interfere with the special 
prerogative of Peter. Both apostles labored successfully in 
establishing it, and both consecrated it by their martyrdom ; 
both are even styled its bishops by Epiphanius ; but, in the 
stricter sense, Peter was peculiarly its founder and its bishop. 
The Bishops of Rome are wont to unite the invocation of these 
glorious apostles, and to act as by their joint authority, be- 
cause the apostolic power was possessed by each, and the 
pre-eminence of Peter was not affected by the joint labors 
and martyrdom of Paul : yet Peter was specially the Bishop 
of Rome. 

Cajus, already quoted, speaks of Victor, Bishop of Rome, as 
the thirteenth from Peter :|| and a contemporary writer says 
that Peter appointed Linus to succeed him in the chair of this 
great city, in which he himself had sat." " The Church of 
Rome," he adds, " organized by Peter, flourished in piety."^[ 
Hyginus is mentioned as his ninth successor in the chair of 
Peter. Pius after him. Eusebius terms him the first Pontiff 
of the Christians :** and speaks of Linus as " first Bishop 
of the Church of the Romans, after the leader Peter."f f Op- 
tatus speaks of the establishment of the episcopal chair at 
Rome by Peter, as an unquestionable fact, and states that Pe- 

* Oros. Hist., 1. vii., c. vi. f Acts xviii. 2. 

% L. de mortibus pers., c. ii. § Serm. i. innatali ap. Petri et Pauli. 

|| Hist Eccl., 1. v., c. xxviii. 

Contra Marcion carm. inter opera Tertull. 

** Palmer, quoting Chronicle, an. 44. Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., 
part vii., ch. 1, p. 463. 

ft In Chronico : " Primus, post coryphaeum Petrum, Romanorum ecclesise 
episcopus." 



98 



PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 



ter, the prince of the apostles, was the first to occupy it.* 
St. Chrysostom observes, that Linus was accounted the second 
Bishop of the Roman Church after Peter. f St. Jerom says : 
" Clement was fourth Bishop of Rome after Peter." J Augus- 
tin begins the list from Peter, to whom Linus succeeded, and 
continues it down to his own time.§ That Peter was strictly 
Bishop of Rome, is clearly established by these most ancient 
and respectable witnesses. That Paul was not united with 
him in the episcopal office, although he labored with him in 
his apostolic character, is plain from the marked distinction 
observed by all the ancients, who never give Paul alone the 
appellation of Roman Bishop, which they frequently give to 
Peter, and from the general most ancient tradition, that there 
cannot be two bishops of one Church ; which was so strongly 
impressed on the minds of the Roman people, that when Con- 
stantius proposed that Liberius and Felix should jointly 
govern the Church, the faithful protested against the novelty, 
and cried out : One God, one Christ, one Bishop. 

St. Leo, addressing the Romans, on the anniversary of his 
own consecration, observes : " For the celebration of our so- 
lemnity, not only the apostolic, but likewise the episcopal 
dignity of the most blessed Peter concurs, who does not cease 
to preside over his own See, and obtains its unfailing union 
with the Eternal Priest. For that solidity, which he himself, 
being made a rock, received from Christ, he transmitted to his 
heirs likewise."|| 

The alleged incompatibility of the apostleship with the 
episcopal office arises from a confusion of terms. If Peter 
were said to be Bishop of Rome in such a way as to confine 
his authority, and vigilance to this local church, it would in- 
terfere with his apostolic office and primacy, since he was 
charged with the care of all the churches, and could not 
divest himself of this general government : but no one con- 
siders him bishop in this sense. He retained the special charge 
of the Church of Rome, which he founded, without foregoing 
his general solicitude for the universal Church ; and whilst he 
cherished the favored flock with peculiar care, he watched in- 

* L. ii., c. iii. f Horn, x., in ii. ad Titum. 

| Cat. Script. Eccl. de Clemente. § Ep. ad Generos. 

|| Serm. V., in anniversario assumpt. 



PETER, BISHOP OF ROME. 



cessantly over all the sheep of Christ, wherever they were 
found, and urged the local pastors to the fulfilment of their 
duties, as appears from his admirable epistle. Most writers 
have identified James, Bishop of Jerusalem, with the apostle 
of that name, which shows that the episcopal charge was not 
deemed by them incompatible with his apostolic character, 
although he would thereby appear exclusively devoted to a 
single flock ; whilst the Roman bishopric of Peter does not 
imply any restriction of power or authority. Barrow virtually 
admits that James the apostle was the same as the Bishop,* 
and offers reasons why it was proper to give to him this spe- 
cial jurisdiction over the faithful of Jerusalem, which, how- 
ever, can have no weight, if the apostleship and episcopate 
cannot be united in the same person. 

The silence of St. Paul concerning St. Peter in his letter to 
the Romans is no argument against the episcopacy of Peter, 
much less against the fact of his having been at Rome. The 
letter was written most probably at a time when Peter was 
not in the city, to silence by his authority the disputants whom 
Paul labors to enlighten. Besides, a mere negative argument 
cannot be admitted against positive testimony of contempo- 
rary witnesses, sustained by public facts and general tra- 
dition. 

Mr. Palmer says : " Hence we may see the reason for which 
the Bishops of Rome were styled successors of St. Peter by 
some of the fathers. They were bishops of the particular 
church which St. Peter had assisted in founding, and over 
which he had presided ; and they were also, as bishops of the 
principal church, the most eminent among the successors of 
the apostles ; even as St. Peter had possessed the pre-emi- 
nence among the apostles themselves."! To express the whole 
truth unequivocally, he should have stated that, as bishops of 
that church, and successors of St. Peter, their pre-eminence 
was one of jurisdiction and authority extending throughout 
the whole Church. 

* Treatise on the Supremacy. Suppos. iv., n. 11, 2. 

f A Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., part vii., ch. iii., § 1, p. 473. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



Prom the fact that St. Peter was Bshop of Rome at the time 
of his martyrdom, his successors in that See are heirs of 
his apostolic authority. The powers given to all the apos- 
tles are perpetual in the Church ; but the bishops do not 
severally inherit the plenitude of those powers, since each 
receives charge of a special flock, as is intimated in the 
epistle of St. Peter,* with powers subordinate to those of 
the general raler of the Church. Although all bishops are, 
in a qualified sense, successors of the apostles, no apostle 
but Peter has a successor in the strictest and fullest accepta- 
tion of the term, because he alone was invested with the office 
of supreme governor, which is essential to the order and ex- 
istence of the Church in all ages. The primacy being of di- 
vine institution, as the words of our Lord plainly prove, it is 
by divine right vested in Peter, and in his successors : and the 
fact of his occupancy of the Roman See has determined the 
succession to the Bishop of Rome. Hence we find all the an- 
cient writers speaking of the Roman Church as the Apostolic 
See, the head of all the churches. 

St. Ignatius, who, in the year 68, succeeded Evodius in the 
See of Antioch, on his way to martyrdom in 107, addressed a 
letter to the Church which presides in the country of the Ro- 
mans : " Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the Church that 
has obtained mercy through the magnificence of the most high 
Father, and of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son ; the Church, 
beloved and enlightened through His will, who wills all things 
that are according to the charity of Jesus Christ our God ; 
which PRESIDES in the place of the Roman region, being 
worthy of God, most comely, deservedly blessed, most cele- 

* 1 Pet. v. 2. #6 iv vfuv Ttolpviov. 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



101 



brated, properly organized, most chaste, and PRESIDING in 
charity, having the law of Christ, bearing the name of the Fa- 
ther." This language clearly indicates the pre-eminence of 
the Roman Church. 

St. Iren^eus, who passed from the East to Gaul, about the 
middle of the second century, and became Bishop of Lyons in 
177, refuting the Gnostics, who boasted of some secret tradi- 
tion more perfect than the public teaching of the Church, ap- 
peals to the public tradition of all churches throughout the 
world, and offers the Roman Church as a competent and autho- 
ritative witness of this general tradition. " All," he says, 
" who wish to see the truth, may see in the entire Church the 
tradition of the apostles, manifested throughout the whole 
world : and we can enumerate the bishops who have been or- 
dained by the apostles, and their successors down to our time, 
who taught or knew no such doctrine as they madly dream of. 
But since it would be very tedious to enumerate in this work 
the succession of all the churches, by pointing to the tradition 
of the greatest and most ancient church, known to all, found- 
ed and established at Rome by the two most glorious apostles 
Peter and Paul, and to her faith announced to men, which 
comes down to us by the succession of bishops, we confound 
all those who in any improper manner gather together,* 
either through self-complacency, or vain-glory, or through 
blindness, or perverse disposition. For with this church, on 
account of her more powerful principality, it is necessary that 
every church, that is, the faithful, who are on all sides,f 
should agree,J in which the apostolic tradition has been always 

* The Greek term 6vlXtyw6i is understood, of assembling. 

f Undique, as it were xvx%<* rtavtazq. The central character of Rome, and 
the convergency of the local churches, as rays to a centre, or focus, is beauti- 
fully insinuated. 

| " Ad hanc enim ecclesiam propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse 
est omnem convenire ecclesiam." The learned Calvinist, Saumaise, admits 
that this is the force of the phrase, which is Hellenistic. He remarks : Ad 
hanc convenire ecclesiam is a Graecism for cum hac convenire ecclesia. " Ne- 
cesse esse dicit omnem ecclesiam convenire ad romanam, id est, al Graece 
loquutus fuerat Irenaeus avpfiaAvsw rtpoj tirjv tW pco^oa'wv sxx%rj6^av, quod signifi- 
cat convenire et concordare in rebus fidei et doctrinae cum romana ecclesia." 
De primatu Papae, c. v. Convenire as signifying motion, cannot be applied 
to a church. It could not be said even of the faithful, that it was necessary 
for them to go to Rome. 



102 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



preserved by those who are on all sides."* A better or more 
powerful principality is ascribed to this church, since heavenly 
empire surpasses earthly dominion ; and its influence in main- 
taining the integrity of Christian tradition is shown from the 
necessity of harmony between all the local churches and this 
ruling church. The attempt to explain away this splendid 
testimony, by supposing the civil principality to be meant, is 
utterly futile : since this could be no reason why the churches 
and faithful should agree with the Roman Church. Hence it 
is pretended that agreement in doctrine is not meant, although 
the professed object of the writer is to prove the general tra- 
dition of the churches, and he takes the tradition of the Roman 
Church as an example, the succession of its bishops being well 
known, and its relations to the other churches implying the 
harmony of their faith. To suppose that the fortuitous visits 
to Rome of believers from various parts are referred to as 
affording evidence of general tradition, is manifestly inconsis- 
tent with the principles laid down by Irenaeus, and indicated in 
the very passage itself, since it is of tradition descending 
through the succession of bishops that he speaks, and to their 
testimony and preaching, as divinely guaranteed by the gift, 
XPfUf**, of their office, he invariably ascribes all certain know- 
ledge of revealed truth. Besides, the frequency of the visits of 
believers to the capital of the empire is a gratuitous supposi- 
tion, void of probability, when we consider the humble condi- 
tion of most of the faithful, and their great distance from Rome. 
Irenaeus plainly speaks, not of travellers who happen to visit 
the city, but of churches which harmonize with this most glo- 
rious and apostolic church, on account of her more powerful 
principality. By the acknowledgment of Palmer : " Irenaeus 

* " Maximae et antiquissimae, et omnibus cognitae, a gloriosissimis duobus 
apostolis Petro et Paulo Romae fundatae et constitute eeclesiae earn quam ha- 
betab apostolis traditionem, et annuntiatam hominibus fidem per successiones 
episcoporum pervenientem usque ad nos indicantes, confundimus omnes eos 
qui quoque modo, vel per sibi placentia, vel vanam gloriam, vel per caecitatem 
et malam sententiam, praeterquam oportet colligunt. Ad hanc enim eccle- 
siam, propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire ec- 
clesiam, hoc est eos qui sunt undique fideles : in qua semper ab his qui sunt 
undique, conservata est ea quae est ab apostolis traditio." S. Iren., 1. iii, c. 
iii. 



ROMAN CHURCH, 



103 



says, * the necessity of resorting to the Roman Church arose 
from the principality or pre-eminence of that church.' "* 

We have already heard Tertullian contesting the power of 
forgiveness, which the Bishop of Rome exercised, but acknow- 
ledging that he was Apostolic, and that the Roman Church was 
the church of Peter, and that Peter was the rock on which the 
Church was built. We shall now hear him speak reverentially 
of the authority of the Roman Church, acknowledging it to be 
the depositary and guardian of the apostolic doctrine, and its 
incorrupt professor, in harmony with the African churches, as 
well as with the other churches throughout the world. The 
fact of the establishment of this church by Peter and Paul, and 
the consequent authority of its teaching, are fully testified by 
him ; nor is his testimony weakened by his subsequent fall, 
when deluded by Montanist reveries, as evidence given before 
a public tribunal would not be affected by the subsequent par- 
tisan efforts of the witness against those who were benefited 
by his testimony. 

In the admirable work on Prescriptions, in which Tertul- 
lian shows that the ancient doctrine alone must be true, be- 
cause it comes down from the apostles, he thus invites the in- 
quirer to pursue the investigation of truth, by listening to the 
teaching of the churches founded by the apostles. " Come, 
then," says he, " you who wish to exercise your curiosity to 
more advantage in the affair of salvation, go through the apos- 
tolic churches, in which the very chairs of the apostles con- 
tinue aloft in their places, in which their very original letters 
are recited, sounding forth the voice, and representing the 
countenance of each one. Is Achaia near you ? you have 
Corinth ? If you are not far from Macedon, you have Philippi, 
you have Thessalonica. If you can go to Asia, you have 
Ephesus. If you are near Italy, you have Rome, whence we 
also derive our origin. # How happy is this church to which 
the apostles poured forth their whole doctrine with their blood ! 
where Peter is assimilated to the Lord in his martyrdom: 
where Paul is crowned with a death like that of John : 
where John the apostle, after he had been dipped in boiling oil 

* A Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., part vii., ch. v., p. 502. 

t " Unde nobis quoque auctoritas prcBsto est.'''' Christianus Lupus shows 
that such is the force of auctoritas, as used by Tertullian. See Scholia. 
Also Diss. ii. de Afr. Eccl. Prov., c. 1. 



104 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



without suffering injury, is banished to the island : let us see 
what she learned, what she taught, what she professed in her 
symbol in common with the African churches."* He passes 
rapidly over the other churches founded by the apostles, and 
which even to his day preserved the chairs on which they sat 
in the performance of their solemn functions, and their origi- 
nal letters. When he has reached the Roman Church he 
pauses, exclaiming in rapture, how happy is she in possessing 
the abundant treasure of apostolic doctrine ; and he appeals 
to her tradition, to her teaching, to her solemn profession of 
faith, in which she was the guide of the African churches. 
Could we say more in her praise ? Need we claim for her 
higher prerogatives ? She is the church whose symbol is the 
great watchword of faith, and with which the churches 
throughout the world harmonize. 

In urging the character of antiquity as a mark of true doc- 
trine, Tertullian says : " Since it is evident, that what is true is 
first, that what is first is from the beginning, that what is from 
the beginning is from the apostles, it also must be equally ma- 
nifest, that what is held sacred in the apostolic churches must 
have been delivered by the apostles. Let us see with what 
milk the Corinthians were fed by Paul ; according to what 
standard the Galatians were reformed ; and what instructions 
were given to the Philippians, Thessalonians, and Ephesians ; 
what also the Romans proclaim in our ears, they to whom Pe- 
ter and Paul left the Gospel sealed with their blood."f The 
appeal to the other churches chiefly regards the apostolic let- 
ters directed to them, whilst the faith of Rome, as loudly pro- 
claimed within hearing, as it were, of Africa, is specially re- 
ferred to ; for by its tradition coming down unchanged, through 

* " Si autem Italiae adjaces, habes Romam, unde nobis quoque authoritas 
prsesto est. Ista quam felix ecclesia, cui totam doctrinam apostoli cum san- 
guine suo profuderunt : ubi Petrus passioni Dominicae adsequatur : ubi Paulus 
Joannis exitu coronatur : ubi apostolus Joannes posteaquam in oleum igneum 
demersus, nihil passus est, in insulam relegatur : videamus quid didicerit, 
quid docuerit, cum Africanis quoque ecclesiis contesserarit." De Praescr. 
Haer., c. xxxvi. 

f Tertullian, 1. iv. adv. Marcionem, p. 505. "Quid etiam Romani de 
proximo sonent, quibus evangelium et Petrus et Paulus sanguine quoque suo 
signatum r eliquerunt . ' ' 



ROMAN CHURCH, 



105 



the succession of bishops, from its glorious founders, all here- 
tics and sectaries are confounded. 

Tertullian boldly challenged them to exhibit anything bear- 
ing a like weight of authority : " Let them then give us the 
origin of their churches : let them unfold the series of their 
bishops, coming down from the beginning in succession, so that 
the first bishop was appointed and preceded by any one of the 
apostles, or of apostolic men, provided he persevered in com- 
munion with the apostles. For in this way the apostolic 
churches exhibit their origin, as the Church of Smyrna relates 
that Polycarp was placed there by John ; as the Church of 
Rome likewise relates that Clement was ordained by Peter ; 
and in like manner the other churches show those who were 
constituted bishops by the apostles, and made perpetuators of 
the apostolic seed. Let heretics feign anything like this."* 

St. Cyprian, who, in so many passages, recognises Peter as 
the rock on which the Church is built, and the one apostle in 
whom unity was established, is loud in his eulogies of the Ro- 
man Church, which he styles the place of Peter, the princi- 
pal Church — the root and matrix of the Catholic Church." 
In a letter to Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, he details the irregu- 
lar proceedings of the schismatics, who had ordained Fortu- 
natus bishop, and subsequently despatched Felicissimus to 
Rome, to deceive the Pope by false statements concerning his 
ordination : " A false bishop having been ordained for them by 
heretics, they venture to set sail, and carry letters from schis- 
matical and profane men to the chair of Peter, and to the 
principal Church,! whence sacerdotal unity has arisen ; nor 
do they reflect that they are Romans whose faith is extolled 
by the apostle, to whom perfidy can have no access."§ The 
strong language of this passage forced from Dr. Hopkins this 
avowal : " Now here we have, certainly, a beginning of the 

* Tert. de prcsscr. hatr. " Edant ergo originem ecclesiarum suarum : 
evolvant ordinem episcoporum suorum, ita per successiones ab initio decur- 
rentem, ut primus ille episcopus aliquem ex apostolis — habuerit auctorem et 
antecessorem. — Sicut Romanorum (ecclesia) Clementem a Petro ordinatum. — 
Confingant tale aliquid haeretici ! 

t Cathedram principalem. The English term principal does not fully ex- 
press the force of the Latin. The edicts of the emperors are often styled 
jussiones principals. 

I Ep. ad Cornel., lix. 



106 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



doctrine of the Church of Rome, showing to us what we anti- 
cipated, when examining the evidence of Irenaeus, namely, 
how early the bishops of Rome endeavored to secure dominion 
and supremacy. The influence of their efforts, too, we find 
first showing itself in the neighborhood of Rome, for Carthage, 
where Cyprian was bishop, lay within a moderate distance from 
the imperial city. Let it be granted, then, that in the year 220, 
about a century and a-half later than Polycarp, a century la- 
ter than Irenaeus, and fifty years later than Tertullian, the doc- 
trine was partially admitted that Peter had been Bishop of 
Rome, and that the unity of the Church took its rise in the See 
or diocese of Peter."* An unbiassed mind would have per- 
ceived in the words of Cyprian the echo of those of Irenaeus, 
and recognised the powerful principality of the chair of Peter 
as the principle of unity and the safeguard of faith. 

Writing to Antonian, an African bishop, to remove some 
doubts concerning the legitimacy of the election of Cornelius, 
St. Cyprian praises his magnanimity in accepting the office 
which was attended with the manifest danger of martyrdom, 
since the heathen emperor dreaded more the presidency of the 
Roman Bishop over the Christian people, than the approach of 
a powerful enemy: " To have sat fearlessly at Rome in the 
priestly chair, at a time when a hostile tyrant threatened the 
priests of God with dire torments ; when he would hear with 
less pain of a rival prince rising up against him, than that a 
priest of God was established at Rome."f The dignity of the 
Roman Bishop must have been notorious, as well as extraordi- 
nary, to create such jealousy in the mind of Decius. 

It is objected, nevertheless, that Cyprian always treats Cor- 
nelius as a brother and colleague, and that Cornelius recipro- 
cates, so as to appear on terms of perfect equality. This is easily 
accounted for by the fact that all bishops are equal in their 
sacred character, the difference being merely of jurisdiction. 
Thus a Roman Council, in 378, says of Pope Damasus, that 
" he is equal in office to the other bishops, and surpasses them 
by the prerogative of the Apostolic See."J Even at this day 
the Pope is wont to address all bishops as "venerable brethren," 

* Lectures on the Reformation, by John Henry Hopkins, &c, p. 127. 
There are some mistakes in the chronological computation, 
f Ep. Antonian, lv. 
| Ep. v., apud Constant, t. 1, col. 528. 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



107 



although Damasus called them his "most honorable chil- 
dren." 

We cannot satisfactorily account for the extraordinary au- 
thority recognized in the Roman clergy, during the vacancy of 
the See, except by the fact, that they were regarded as the de- 
positaries ad interim of the power ordinarily exercised by the 
Roman Bishop over the whole Church. St. Cyprian communi- 
cated to them the rules which he deemed it advisable to adopt 
in regard to those who had fallen in persecution, with a view 
to obtain their approval and confirmation : which they gave in 
terms complimentary to him, and sufficiently expressive of their 
own authority. Their letter in reply was despatched, as St. 
Cyprian assures us, not only to himself, but " throughout the 
whole world, and brought to the knowledge of all the churches 
and of all the brethren which shows that the authority of 
the Roman Church, which they exercised, extended to all por- 
tions of the universal Church. 

The eminent dignity of the Roman Bishop was well known 
to the pagans, as we have seen from the testimony of Cyprian, 
concerning the jealousy of the emperor, and as was manifested 
soon afterwards on occasion of a dispute at Samosata. Paul, 
the Bishop of that See, had been deposed for heresy by the 
Council of Antioch, in the year 268, but under the protection 
of Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, he continued to occupy the 
episcopal mansion. The Roman army, under the command of 
the emperor Aurelian, having defeated the troops of the queen, 
entered into the city, and soon afterwards the conqueror was 
implored to dispossess the heretical incumbent. Aurelian, 
feeling himself incompetent to decide a question which in- 
volved a point of Christian doctrine, decreed that " the right 
to the dwelling should be adjudged to him who should receive 
letters from the Italian bishops of the Christian religion and 
from the Bishop of Rome."f This reference of a doctrinal dis- 
pute between eastern bishops to the bishops of Italy, and es- 
pecially to the Roman Bishop, proves that the emperor knew 
that the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged by Christians of 
the east, as well as of the west, to be the chief judge of doc- 
trine ; and the mention of the other Italian bishops shows his 

* Ep. xxx., Cleri Romani ad Cyprian, 
f Euseb., Hist. Eccl., t vii., c. xxx. 



108 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



acquaintance with the usage of the Roman See, according to 
which matters of high importance were determined by the 
Bishop of Rome with the counsel and assent of his colleagues. 
Ammian Marcellinus, a pagan writer of the following cen- 
tury, is also witness that " the bishops of the eternal city enjoy 
superior authority ;" # which Barrow vainly attempts to explain 
of mere influence and reputation. 

Augustin, speaking of Cecilian, the successor of Cyprian in 
the See of Carthage, pays a sublime tribute to the Roman 
Church, as possessing at all times, the apostolic power in all 
its plenitude and integrity. The Bishop of Carthage, he re- 
marks, " might well disregard the combined multitude of his 
enemies, whilst he saw himself united, by letters of com- 
munion, with the Roman Church, in which the princedom of 
the Apostolic Chair always flourished, and with other coun- 
tries, from which the Gospel came to Africa, where he was 
ready also to plead his cause, if his adversaries should en- 
deavor to estrange these churches from him."f There is no 
possibility of mistaking the force of this testimony. The dig- 
nity of the Roman Church is ascribed to its apostolic origin. 
To its authority and unquestionable integrity Augustin appeals, 
even in the supposition that the allegations of the Donatists 
against the African bishops and other bishops in communion 
with them were true : " If all throughout the world were such 
as you most wantonly assert, what has been done to you by 
the chair of the Roman Church in which Peter sat, and in 
which Anastasius sits at this day ?" J 

St. Jerom, who in his own cutting style so often lashed the 
vices of Rome, and treated with no indulgence the defects of 
the clergy, speaks with profound reverence of the Roman 
Church as the venerable See of the apostles, heiress of their 
faith, as well as of their relics. In his letter to Marcella, he 
says : " There is there, indeed, a holy church : there are the 
trophies of the apostles and martyrs: there is the true confes- 
sion of Christ: there is that faith which was praised by the 
apostle : and Christianity is there making new advances daily 
over prostrate heathenism."^ Yet when certain Roman 
usages were in question, such as the distinctions which dea- 

* L. xv. f Ep. xliii., olim clxii., ad Glorium et Eleusium. 

| R. contra ii., lit. Petiliani, c. 1. § Ep. ad Marcell. 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



109 



cons assumed, to the prejudice of the respect due to the priest- 
hood and episcopacy, Jerom refused to defer to these local 
customs, and strongly vindicated the honor of the higher or- 
ders. The pretensions of the deacons show the eminence of 
the Church, whose officers they were, since otherwise there 
would have been no pretext for their assumption, whilst his 
caustic strictures prove his independent character, which must 
give increased weight to the homage, which he elsewhere ren- 
ders to the apostolic See. " The Church," he says, " of the 
Roman city is not to be thought something different from the 
Church of the whole world. Gaul, and Britain, and Africa, 
and Persia, and the East, and India, and all the barbarous na- 
tions adore one Christ — observe one rule of truth. If authority 
is sought for, the world is greater than one city. Wherever a 
bishop is, whether at Rome, or at Eugubium, or at Constanti- 
nople, or Rhegium, or Alexandria, or Tanae, he is of the same 
merit, of the same priesthood. Neither the power of wealth nor 
the lowliness of poverty makes a bishop more or less exalted :* 
but all are successors of the apostles. Bat you say, how is it 
that at Rome the priest is ordained on the testimony of the dea- 
con ? Why do you offer as an objection the custom of one city? 
Why do you allege, as laws of the Church, the insignificant 
number, from which haughtiness has sprung ? Everything 
that is rare is sought after. Their small number makes dea- 
cons respected ; the multitude of priests brings them into con- 
tempt. However, even in the Church of Rome, priests sit while 
the deacons remain standing."! Jerom asserted the equality 
of the episcopacy, evidently with a view to embrace even the 
priests, in defence of whose privileges he was writing. Will 
any one, in the face of all the monuments of antiquity, main- 
tain, that the Bishops of Rome and Eugubium, of Alexandria 
and of Tanae, were distinguished by no difference of jurisdic- 
tion ? The episcopal character is, indeed, alike in all ; the Bishop 
of Eugubium is, in this respect, equal to the Bishop of Rome ; but 
the governing power, or jurisdiction, widely differs, for to the 
one the care of a small portion of the flock of Christ is committed, 
— to the other the charge of all the sheep and lambs is given. 

Jerom cannot be supposed to depreciate the authority of the 
Roman Church, merely because he condemns the practice of a 



* The negation is wanting in some copies. f Hieronym. Evagrio. 

7 



110 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



few deacons, who took occasion from the eminence of that 
Church in which they enjoyed special distinction, to treat with 
less reverence those, who were their superiors in the sacred 
ministry. Such customs as are peculiar to the Church of 
Rome, need not be adopted by the other churches in her com- 
munion : and the abuses of individuals, attached to that Church 
may be condemned, even by those, who, like Jerom, cry aloud 
that they cling to the chair of Peter, — who receive its faith and 
tradition with reverence, and who cherish its communion, be- 
cause they " know that it is the rock on which the Church was 
built." 

All the bishops of the province of Aries concurred in a letter 
to St. Leo, in which imploring, in support of the privileges of 
the See of Aries, the exercise of his authority, they distinctly 
recognised its apostolic source : " The Holy Roman Church," 
say they, " through the most blessed Peter, prince of the apos- 
tles, has the principality above all the churches of the world."* 
Leo himself, addressing the clergy and faithful of Rome, dwelt 
on the favor, bestowed on them by the apostles : " They have 
raised you to such a pitch of glory, that, being made a holy na- 
tion, a chosen people, a priestly and royal city, the head of the 
world, through the sacred See of blessed Peter, you preside 
over a vaster region by the influence of divine religion, than 
before by earthly dominion."! 

Barrow asserts, that the imperial dignity of the city was " the 
sole ground upon which the greatest of all ancient synods, 
that of Chalcedon, did affirm the papal eminency to be found- 
ed ; for ' to the throne/ say they, ' of ancient Rome, because 
that was the royal city, the fathers reasonably deferred the 
privileges.' "J This assertion, however, is refuted by the very 
words of the council to Leo, in regard to Dioscorus, patriarch 
of Alexandria : " He has extended his frenzy even against your 
Apostolic Holiness, to whom the care of the vineyard was en- 
trusted by the Saviour."§ When they speak of prerogatives 
as bestowed by the fathers in consideration of the majesty of 
the city, they cannot be understood of the primacy itself, since 
this is no other than the care of the Lord's vineyard, which 
they expressly acknowledge to have been committed by our 

* Ep. lxv., inter Leonis ep. f Serm. lxxxii., in. Natali Apost. 
{ Supp. v., n. ix. § T. ii., p. 655, coll. Hard. 



ROMAN CHURCH, 



111 



Saviour Himself to Leo in the person of Peter. The attempt, 
of Palmer to explain away this solemn recognition of the 
divine origin of the primacy, as if it meant " by His provi- 
dence in permitting that bishop to occupy so eminent a posi- 
tion in the Church,"* is a perversion so uncandid as not to 
merit refutation. When the Council speaks of privileges be- 
stowed by the fathers on the Roman See, they can mean only 
the recognition of its rights by enactments tending to facilitate 
their exercise, and they probably allude to the .canons of Sar- 
dica, which acknowledged the right of the Roman Bishop to 
receive appeals, and the propriety of reporting to him from all 
parts the state of religion, as to one divinely charged with the 
solicitude of all the churches : " This seems excellent and most 
suitable, that the priests of the Lord, from the respective 
provinces, report to the head, that is, to the See of the apos- 
tle Peter."f The imperial majesty of Rome was indeed the 
occasion of its being chosen by the apostle himself for the 
seat of his authority : if we may not suppose him to have been 
specially directed by Christ our Lord in a point so important. 
The chief city of a heathen empire, co-extensive with the civi- 
lized world, was peculiarly adapted to become the centre of a 
religion, which was to spread throughout all nations, making 
captives to Christ the lords of the earth as well as their sub- 
jects, and extending its mild influence beyond the utmost 
bounds of civilization. The divinity of Christ was manifested 
in a manner the most striking, when the fisherman of Galilee 
planted the cross in the city of the Cesars, and established his 
chair near the imperial throne, in the confidence that his em- 
pire would far surpass theirs in extent, and that it would en- 
dure and flourish for ages after theirs would have been broken 
into fragments by the barbarian. Most probably the traveller 
would now seek in vain for the ruins of Rome, as for those of 
the eastern Babylon, had it not been thus selected for the seat 
of a peaceful empire far more glorious than that, which it once 
acquired by the irresistible valor of its legions. We may safely 
add that it is destined to continue the fountain of civilization, 
art, science and religion : 

" Rome dont le destin dans la paix, dans la guerre, 
Est d'etre en tous les terns maitresse de la terre."f 

* Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., p. vii., eh. iii., p. 476. 
f Ep. Rom. Pont. Constant., t. 1, p. 395. 
X Voltaire, La Henriade, ch. iv. 



112 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



Rome ! destined to enjoy perpetual sway, 
Thy power supreme all nations shall obey. 

Some are willing to ascribe the origin of pontifical supre- 
macy to the concessions of Christian emperors, who were 
pleased that the Bishop of ancient Rome should preside over 
his colleagues : but it is manifest, that it is to be traced to no 
such source. The seat of empire having been removed by 
Constantine to the city, which bears his name, the imperial 
influence was exercised in favor of the Bishop of Constan- 
tinople, who, from being a suffragan of the Bishop of He- 
raclea, in Thrace, sought to become the second dignitary of 
the Church, to the prejudice of the rights of the Bishops of 
Alexandria and Antioch, and of other prelates. In 421, Theo- 
dosius the younger issued an edict, giving him cognizance of 
ecclesiastical causes throughout all the provinces of Illyricum, 
which belonged to the western patriarchate. Honorius, Em- 
peror of the West, remonstrated with his eastern colleague 
on this innovation, as prejudicial to the rights of the " Holy 
Apostolic See." 4t Doubtless," he says, " we ought specially 
to venerate the Church of that city, from which we have re- 
ceived the Roman empire, and the priesthood derives its 
origin." He begs him to " command the ancient order to be 
observed, lest the Roman Church lose, under the empire of 
Christian princes, what it retained under other emperors."* 
Theodosius, yielding to this remonstrance, revoked his former 
decree. 

The occupants of the See of Constantinople continued, ne- 
vertheless, to aspire after titles and power, with the marked 
favor of the eastern emperors, until at length, Boniface III., 
about the year 606, obtained from Phocas the legal recognition 
of his title, which some moderns mistake for an imperial 
concession. Long before this period the Emperor Valentinian, 
in 455, issued a decree, in which he acknowledged the pri- 
macy of the Roman Bishop, as flowing from the princely emi- 
nence of St. Peter : " The merit of blessed Peter, who is the 
prince of the priestly order, and the dignity of the Roman 
city, the authority also of the holy synod, strengthened the 
primacy of the Apostolic See."f The mention of the dignity 
of the city cannot detract from the force of the first reason, 

* Ep. ix., x., xi., apud Coustant., t. 1, col. 1029, 1030. 

t Nov. xxiv., in fine cod. Theod. Vide Hallam, Middle Ages, c. vii., p. 270. 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



113 



which of itself is sufficient. The principality of Peter is the 
real and only source of the dignity of the Roman Church ; 
but the remembrance of the former civil importance of the 
city might be a motive in the mind of a Christian emperor, 
for viewing with complacency the apostolic prerogatives, 
with which it was enriched. The authority of the holy synod 
of Sardica strengthened them, inasmuch as the recognition of 
them was calculated to increase the reverence of the faithful 
for this guardian power, which was established by Christ 
Himself, who constituted Peter " prince of the priestly order." 

Even Palmer says : " It would be a mistake to contend, that 
the pre-eminence of the Roman Church was derived altoge- 
ther from the decrees of emperors, or from the canons of 
Councils, though it was much increased by such causes. It 
was founded on the possession of attributes, which collective- 
ly belonged to no other Church whatever."* He might have 
more simply and correctly said, that it was founded on the 
fact, that it was the See of Peter, which, a little before, he 
himself had acknowledged : " The Roman Church was parti- 
cularly honored as having been presided over by Peter, the 
first of the apostles, and was, therefore, by many of the fa- 
thers, called the See of Peter."f 

With more ingenuousness, Mr. Allies avows, that " the pre- 
cedency or prerogative of Rome, to whatever extent it reach- 
ed, was certainly not either claimed or granted merely be- 
cause Rome was the imperial city. It was explicitly claimed 
by the Bishop of Rome, and as freely conceded by others to 
him, as, in a special sense, successor to St. Peter. From 
the very first, the Roman Pontiff seems possessed himself, 
as from a living tradition, which had thoroughly penetrated 
the local Roman Church, with a consciousness of some pe- 
culiar influence he was to exercise over the whole Church. 
This consciousness does not show itself here and there in 
the line of Roman Pontiffs, but one and all seem to have 
imbibed it from the atmosphere, which they breathed. That 
they were the successors of St. Peter, who himself sat and 
ruled, and spoke in their person, was as strongly felt, and 
as consistently declared, by those Pontiffs, who preceded the 

* A Treatise on the Church of Christ, vol. ii., part vii., ch. iii., p. 473. 
f Ibidem, p. 472. 



114 



ROMAN CHURCH. 



time of Constantine,as by those who followed. The feeling 
of their brother bishops, concerning them, may have been less 
definite, as was natural ; but even those, who most opposed 
any arbitrary stretch of authority on their part, as St. Cyprian, 
fully admitted, that they sat in the See of St. Peter, and ordi- 
narily treated them with the greatest deference. This is 
written so very legibly upon the records of antiquity, that I 
am persuaded any one, who is even very slightly acquainted 
with them, cannot with sincerity dispute it." # 



* The Church of England Cleared, &c. 



CHAPTER IX. 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 

§ 1. Communion with the See of Rome. 

The Bishop of Rome, being successor of St. Peter in the pas- 
toral office, all the sheep of Christ are under his charge. All 
the bishops, with their respective flocks, constitute the one 
flock of Christ, under the one pastor, who is consequently the 
centre of general unity. All must communicate with him, 
since the members must be connected with the head, and 
through him they communicate with all their colleagues, 
even should they have no direct personal intercourse. The 
Church of Christ is essentially one — one body, one sheepfold — 
a well-constructed house — a united kingdom. It is plain, from 
all ancient documents, that the Bishop of Rome has been 
viewed by all antiquity as a necessary bond of the universal 
Church, and that all bishops who valued Catholic unity, sought 
it in his communion. To seek it was a duty, admitting no ex- 
cuse, where it was possible to obtain it. It is easy to perceive 
in Irenaeus the necessity of this union and harmony with the 
Roman Church : " for, with this church, on account of her 
more powerful principality, it is necessary that ever} 7 church, 
that is, the faithful who are in every quarter, should agree, in 
which the Apostolic tradition has been always preserved, by 
those who are in every quarter."* The members must harmo- 
nize and be united with the head ; the provinces of this spi- 
ritual empire must be subject to the ruling power; the 
churches and faithful must agree with the principal and rul- 
ing church. Thus had apostolic tradition been preserved in 
its integrity in the Church of Rome down to the time of Irenaeus. 
The succession of bishops from Peter and Paul, her founders, 
had transmitted their teaching ; and the whole body of believ- 

* L. iii., adv. haer., c. iii. 



116 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



ers, throughout the world, bore witness to it by the assent, 
which they gave to the doctrine of the Roman Church, 
whose communion they cherished as an essential principle 
of church organization. 

St. Cyprian is an illustrious witness to the necessity of com- 
munion with the See of Peter, which is so strongly asserted by 
him, that Hallam deems his language more definite than that 
of Irenaeus : " Irenseus," he remarks, " rather vaguely, and 
Cyprian more positively admit, or rather assert the primacy 
of the Church of Rome, which the latter seems to have re- 
garded as a kind of centre of Catholic unity."* 

The letter of St. Cyprian to Antonian, whom the representa- 
tions of Novatian had caused to hesitate in recognising Corne- 
lius as Bishop of Rome, begins thus : " I received your first 
letter, most beloved brother, which firmly maintains the har- 
mony of the priestly college, and the communion of the Catho- 
lic Church, inasmuch as you intimate, that you hold no com- 
munion with Novatian, but that, following our counsel, you 
are in harmony with Cornelius, our fellow-bishop. You also 
wrote, that I should forward a copy of the same letter to Cor- 
nelius, our colleague, that he might lay aside all anxiety, 
knowing that you communicate with him, that is, with the Ca- 
tholic Church.""!" — This will enable us to understand the full 
force of some other passages in the sequel. The Bishop of 
Rome, at that early day, was the centre and bond of Catholic 
communion : through him the bishops of every part of Chris- 
tendom communicated with each other, and thereby formed 
that episcopal college, of which Cyprian so often speaks, — as 
one in its character, tendency and spirit. 

Antonian had requested to be informed what heresy Nova- 
tian had introduced. Cyprian replied, it was a matter of no 
consequence, as long as he was separated from the Church 
by his opposition to her lawful bishop : " As to what regards 
Novatian, concerning whom you have requested me to in- 
form you what heresy he has introduced, know, in the first 
place, that we should not be curious to know what he teaches, 
since he teaches without. Whoever he is, and whatever qua- 
lifications HE POSSESSES, HE IS NOT A CHRISTIAN WHO IS NOT IN THE 

Church of Christ." No one can insist on the necessity of com- 
* Middle Ages, c. vii., p. 270. Americ. ed. f Ep. ad Antonian. 



CENTRE OF UNITY, 



117 



munion with the Apostolic See, in terms stronger than these, 
Immediately after the words just quoted, Cyprian continues : 
" Though he boast of his philosophy, or proclaim his eloquence 
in haughty words, he who does not maintain either fraternal 
charity, or ecclesiastical unity, has lost what he had been be- 
fore. Unless he appear to you to be a bishop, who — an adul- 
terer and a stranger — ambitiously endeavors to be made 
bishop by deserters, after a bishop has been ordained in 
the Church by sixteen bishops ; and, whilst there is one Church 
divided by Christ into many members, throughout the whole 
world, and one episcopacy spread abroad through the con- 
cordant multitude of bishops, in violation of the unity of the 
Catholic Church, which is connected and joined together 
everywhere, endeavors to make a human church, and sends 
his apostles through many cities, to lay the foundations of his 
new institution ; and whilst, long since, throughout all the 
provinces, and in every city, bishops have been ordained, — 
advanced in age, sound in faith, tried in times of oppression, 
proscribed in persecution, — dares create mock bishops in their 
stead." It would be absurd to. argue that there is no superior 
authority in the Bishop of Rome above his colleagues, be- 
cause the episcopate is one ; for surely the context shows, that 
it is not directed to establish the equality of all bishops, but 
their union for one great purpose — the government of the 
Church : whence Cyprian concludes, that the refractory in- 
truder, Novatian, by his opposition to Cornelius, was cut off 
from the communion of all bishops, and of the Church. The 
very efforts of Novatian to secure the support and gain the 
communion of the African bishops, and to lay the foundations 
of his new institution, by means of his emissaries, indicate that 
the station, which he claimed, was that of a bishop having 
general authority throughout the Church, on which account, 
he was considered by Cyprian as laboring to establish a new 
institution, a human Church in opposition to the Divine insti- 
tution of Christ. 

The language of this illustrious prelate is stronger than the 
mere usurpation of an ordinary bishopric, contrary to the 
rights of the legitimate pastor, would warrant. Such an act, 
however unjustifiable and criminal, is not in itself an attempt 
to make a new Church. When Fortunatus had been created 
bishop, by some schismatics, in opposition to Cyprian himself. 



118 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



this prelate, whilst strongly reprobating the act, did not look 
upon it as one involving serious consequences to the universal 
Church, and therefore omitted even to inform Cornelius of the 
fact, until, on the application of the schismatics for the favor 
of the Pope, he wrote to inquire into the facts, and the causes 
of his silence.* In a letter to Cyprian, he complains, that the 
communications from Polycarp, Bishop of the colony of Adru- 
metum, which had been, in the first instance, addressed to him 
by name, had subsequently been directed to the priests and 
deacons of the Roman Church, which change he traced to a 
visit, which Cyprian and Liberalis had made to the colony. 
This shows the frequency of the communications with the Ro- 
man Church from distant parts, and the right, which the Bishop 
of Rome claimed, that they should be addressed to himself 
personally. Cyprian, whose mind from the beginning had 
been made up in favor of Cornelius, explains the motives of 
the change, which was the result of a resolution taken by se- 
veral bishops, in an assembly held on the subject, to avoid 
direct communication with either of the claimants of the ponti- 
ficate, until the return of the ambassadors whom they had de- 
spatched to ascertain the facts. In the meantime they had 
been careful to cling to the Roman Church : " for," says he, 
" giving an account (of this reserve) we know that we ex- 
horted all who sailed (hence) to acknowledge and hold 

fast THE ROOT AND MATRIX OF THE CATHOLIC ChURCH." Oil the 

return of the ambassadors, all doubt about the legitimacy of 
the election of Cornelius being removed, it was determined, as 
Cyprian assures him, that letters should be written and am- 
bassadors sent to him by all the bishops : " that all our col- 
leagues should strongly approve of you, and hold fast your 
communion, that is, both the unity and charity of the Ca- 
tholic Church." f The dignity of the Roman Church as the 
See of Peter, and the necessity of her communion, could 
not be more strongly and touchingly expressed. 

The whole reasoning of St. Cyprian shows the necessity 
of this communion. He insists so strongly on the unity of 
the Church, in his admirable treatise on this subject, and 
throughout his works, as to maintain, that martyrdom avails 
nothing to him, who is not in unity. Yet unity is a 



* Ep. lix., Cyprianus Cornelio. 



| Ep. xlviii. 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



119 



phantom, unless the central and connecting authority of 
the Bishop of Rome be admitted. The union of local churches 
in sentiment and faith cannot be had fortuitously. There 
may be, at least, as many creeds as there are bishops, if 
there be not a chief bishop in whom his colleagues recog- 
nise their leader and organ, to declare with authority, in the 
name of all, the common faith. By this means the general 
tradition can be collected, preserved, and transmitted. The 
bishops gathering around him may attest the faith of their 
respective churches, compare it with the unfailing tradition of 
Peter, and uniting with him in judgment, concur to proscribe 
all the novel inventions of human pride. Union of charity 
between churches discordant in faith, is a fond imagination 
of those, who would cover the shame of disunion, by affecting 
to cherish, what, at best, is but sympathy for the errors of 
their fellow-men. Truth is the essential characteristic of the 
Church, which is its pillar and ground : and unity can only 
exist in the common admission of truth in all its fulness. 
There cannot be one Church without unity of government, 
and this cannot be without a ruler. There can be no general 
or permanent order without a controlling power. As in each 
diocese, the bishop is the ruler, in whom the clergy and 
faithful unite to form a local church, so all the churches 
must have a universal bishop, presiding over all, and di- 
recting and governing all. As there is one God, one 
Christ, one Church, one faith, so, according to Cyprian, 
there is one chair founded by the voice of the Lord on 
Peter. From him unity began : in his ruling chair the 
principle of unity is lodged : and the same necessity which 
obliges us to recognise one Church, leads us to acknowledge 
one Pastor, one Priest, one Judge in the place of Christ. The 
plenitude and independence of authority in the several 
bishops are totally inconsistent with unity. " Would there 
not have been," asks Mr. Allies, " not only imminent danger, 
but almost certainty, that a power, unlimited in its nature, 
committed to so large a body of men, who might become 
indefinitely more numerous, yet were each independent 
centres of authority, instead of tending to unity, would 
produce diversity ? "* 



The Church of England Cleared, etc., p. 17. 



120 CENTRE OF UNITY. 

St. Cyprian holds the episcopate to be one, as the Church is 
one : " Does he who opposes and resists the Church — who for- 
sakes the chair of Peter, on whom the Church was founded : * 
flatter himself that he is in the Church — whilst the blessed 
Paul, the apostle, teaches this, and shows the mystery of 
unity, saying : 4 One body, and one spirit, one hope of your 
calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God ? ' This 
unity ought to be firmly held and maintained, especially 
by us bishops, who preside in the Church, that we may 
prove that the episcopate itself is one, and indivisible. 
Let no one deceive the brotherhood by falsehood — let no 
one corrupt the truth of faith by perfidious prevarication. 
The episcopate is one, of which a part is held by indivi- 
duals for a common object : the Church is one, which 
is extended more widely by the increase of her fecun- 
dity."! The scope of Cyprian is not to prove that one 
bishop is equal to another, or that each bishop possesses 
the entire episcopal power in its plenitude: he undertakes 
to show that the Church is one, and the episcopate one 
likewise, each bishop exercising his authority for the same 
general interest, and in inviolable connexion w 7 ith his 
brethren. The term, in solidum,% here means the object, 
for which the episcopal power is exercised, which is the 
general advantage of the Church — the unity and connexion 
in which alone it can be enjoyed, since all bishops, ac- 
cording to Cyprian, are a collegium^ or corporate body, the 
powers of which are communicated to the individual mem- 
bers with dependence on the general body, especially on the 
head. The book on the unity of the Church, which was ad- 
dressed to those confessors of the faith, who had tarnished 
their glory by supporting the schism of Novatian, was 

* The words in italics are omitted in the edition of Erasmus. I believe 
them to be genuine, for the reasons elsewhere given ; but I have no need of 
laying stress on them. 

f De unit. Eccl. 

\ "Episcopatus unus est, cujus pars a singulis in solidum tenetur." For 
a full exposition of this text, and of the relations of the Pope to the college of 
bishops, I refer to a work of great value : " The Unity of the Episcopate Con- 
sidered, by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A." The author is one of the many 
English converts. 

$ Ep. lii. 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



121 



directed to prove, that those, who adhered to a rival of the 
lawful Bishop of Rome, forfeited all the privileges of the 
Church, which are only enjoyed in unity, all bishops being 
necessarily united in communion. As there can be only 
one bishop in each Church, whoever sets up a rival pre- 
late, deprives himself, by this schismatical act, of the com- 
munion of the whole Church, which can only be enjoyed 
through the lawful bishop. This was especially true of the 
Bishop of Rome, the head of all bishops, although the princi- 
ple may be applied to any diocesan in communion with the 
chief bishop and the universal Church. 

The great Archbishop of Milan, St. Ambrose, relates in 
praise of his brother Satirus, that on reaching shore after 
shipwreck, he was careful to inquire, whether the bishop of 
the place " agreed in faith with the Catholic bishops, that is, 
with the Roman Church." * Thus communion with Rome 
was regarded as an evidence of orthodoxy, and Catholicity. 

St. Optatus, arguing against Parmenian the Donatist, in- 
sists on the notoriety of the fact, that Peter established the 
episcopal chair at Rome, whence he infers the necessity of 
communion with the Bishop of that See. " You cannot deny 
that you know, that the episcopal chair was first given to 
Peter in the city of Rome, in which Peter sat, the head 
of all the apostles ; whence also he was called Cephas : f 
in which one chair unity should be maintained by all ; that 
the apostles should not each set up a chair for himself, but 
that he should be at once a schismatic and a sinner, who 
should erect any other against that one chair." He gives the 
succession of pontiffs from St. Peter to Syricius, " who," says 
he, " is at this day our colleague, with whom the whole world 
as well as ourselves, agrees in one society of communion by 
the intercourse of the usual letters." J The chair of Peter is 
thus plainly recognised as the necessary bond of Catholic com- 
munion. 

* De obitu fratris. 

f Rock. Some pretend that Optatus confounded the Syriac term with the 
Greek term xe^>a^.rj, which signifies head : but this is by no means apparent, 
since he might well say that the apostle was called a rock, because he was 
head of all the apostles. 

% De Schismat. Donat.,1. ii. 



122 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



Mr. Palmer feebly attempts to elude the force of this re- 
markable passage, by a qualified concession : " It is not 
denied that St. Optatus, in arguing against the Donatists as to 
the ' cathedra,' which they admitted to be one of the gifts of 
the Church, refers to the chair of Peter at Rome, as consti- 
tuting the centre of unity in the Catholic Church. It was so 
in fact, at that time, and had very long been so." * Truly, 
very long, even from the time that Peter founded that See : 
and so necessary was this centre of unity, in the mind of 
Optatus, that whoever erects a rival see is a schismatic and 
prevaricator. 

St. Augustin fully harmonizes with Optatus, in acknow- 
ledging the necessity of communion with the Roman See ; 
and calls on the Donatists to embrace it if they wish to be 
ingrafted in the vine.f St. Jerom identifies the Roman with 
the Catholic faith, demanding : " what faith does Ruffinus call 
his own ? Is it that which is held by the Roman Church, or 
that which is found in the writings of Origen ? If he replies : 
It is the Roman. Then we are Catholics."J In the conflict- 
ing claims of the three prelates to the see of Antioch, of which 
we will speak more fully hereafter, he manifested the great- 
est anxiety to discover which of them enjoyed the commu- 
nion of the Pontiff, that with him only he might communicate. 

All the ancient symbols and fathers speak of unity as an 
essential attribute of the Church, as Mr. Manning has fully 
shown,§ although with manifest inconsistency he afterwards 
labors to accommodate his proofs to his position as member of 
an isolated community, despite the warning of the poet : 

Servetur usque ad imum, 
Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet. 

This unity is impossible without a central authority, such 
as Irenaeus declared the Roman Church to be, by reason of 
her more powerful principality. 

The sophism of some moderns, who, from the popular use 
of the terms " Roman Catholic," infer that our claims involve 

* A Treatise on the Church, part vii., ch. v., p. 503. 
f Ps. contra partem Donati. | L. i., in Rufin., n. 4. 

§ The Unity of the Church, by Henry Edward Manning, M.A., Archdea- 
con of Chichester, ch. i., ii. 



CENTRE OF UNITY, 



123 



contradiction, is easily refuted. The term " Roman " was 
applied to the Catholic faith by Pelagius the heretic, who de- 
signated in this way the faith of St. Ambrose,* and by Theo- 
dosius the younger,f as also by St. Jerom. The union of both 
appellations is popular, rather than ecclesiastical, for which 
reason it was objected to in the Congress of Vienna, by car- 
dinal Consalvi, who preferred that the Church should be styled 
Roman and Catholic. The popular usage, however, admits 
of an easy explanation, since the mention of the seat of power 
does not necessarily limit the extent of empire ; and the cen- 
tre can be pointed to without prejudice to the vastness of the 
circumference. The Church is Roman because her visible 
head is Bishop of Rome : she is Catholic, because her spiritual 
dominion extends throughout all nations, even to the extremi- 
ties of the world. 

§ 2. Interruptions of Communion, 

Although special facts should never be allowed to militate 
against principles which are certain, it may be useful to con- 
sider the particular cases in which prelates or churches are 
alleged to have been out of the communion of the Roman 
See, without loss of church-membership or privileges. St. 
Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, is given as an instance : but it 
can never be shown that he was deprived of ecclesiastical 
communion, although for a time he did not enjoy official in- 
tercourse with the Pontiff. The Arians had concurred to his 
election, which threw doubt on his orthodoxy, and determined 
Damasus to recognise Paulinus, who was subsequently or- 
dained by Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, at the solicitation of 
some Catholics. The suspicions, however, were known to 
be unjust by St. Basil and other eastern prelates, who sup- 
ported him in consequence of the priority of his ordination. 
Damasus abstained, in his regard, from any positive act of 
exclusion or communion ; and Meletius persisted in maintain- 
ing his claims, without any derogation from the superior au- 
thority of the Pontiff. According to the established discipline 
of those ages, the patriarch, when duly elected and conse- 
crated, received jurisdiction, under the obligation of commu- 
nicating his election to the Pope, whose letters of communion 

* Apud Aug. 1. de Gratia Christi, c. xlvi. f In Cone. Eph. 



124 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



confirmed him in the possession of his see : but the with- 
holding of official intercourse, when not followed by positive 
excommunication, did not strip him of his authority, much 
less did it place him beyond the pale of the Church. Mele- 
tius continued to profess his adhesion to the Pontiff, so that 
when Sapores, the commander of the forces, came to Antioch, 
by order of the emperor Gratian, to deliver the churches to 
the bishop who was in communion with Damasus, Meletius 
satisfied him that he enjoyed it, and accordingly got posses- 
sion. Vitalis had been consecrated bishop of the. same see, 
by Apollinaris, and professed the same reverence for the pon- 
tifical authority. The three claimants were loud in their de- 
clarations of attachment to Rome. St. Jerom, who was then 
in Syria, being perplexed by their conflicting claims and dis- 
sensions, tells the Pontiff that, to avoid mistake, he held com- 
munion with the Eg}^ptian confessor, that is, with Peter, Pa- 
triarch of Alexandria, then an exile in Syria, who had as- 
sisted at the Roman Council : " I follow here your colleagues, 
the confessors of Egypt, and amidst the merchant vessels, I 
lie hid in a little boat. I know nothing of Vitalis — I reject 
Meletius — I care not for Paulinus. Whoever does not gather 
with you, scatters ; that is, whoever is not of Christ is of 
Antichrist."* He looked on Meletius with the suspicion with 
which he was generally viewed in the West, and therefore 
declined his communion. To relieve himself from perplexity, 
he addressed a second letter to Damasus : " The Church here 
being split into three parties, each is eager to draw me to it- 
self. The venerable authority of the monks who dwell 
around assails me. In the meantime I cry aloud : Whoever 

IS UNITED WITH THE CHAIR OF PeTER IS MINE. Meletius, Vita- 

lis and Paulinus affirm that they adhere to you : if one only 
made the assertion, I could believe him : but in the present 
case either two or all of them deceive me. Therefore, I be- 
seech you, blessed father, — by the cross of the Lord, by the 
necessary ornament of our faith, f by the passion of Christ, — 
as you succeed the apostles in dignity, so may you rival them 
in merit, — so may you sit on the throne of judgment with the 

* Ep. xv. 

f Necessary regard for the integrity of faith, which is the glory of the 
Church. 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



125 



twelve, — so may another gird you like Peter in your old age,* 
— so may you gain the franchise of the heavenly city with 
Paul, — declare to me by your letter, with whom I should hold 
communion in Syria. Do not disregard a soul for which 
Christ died."*)- This is the language of a man who feels that 
it is the duty of a disciple of Christ, in whatever part of the 
world he may be, to communicate with the Bishop of Rome, 
through the local prelate who enjoys and holds his com- 
munion. 

A compromise between Paulinus and Meletius was subse- 
quently effected, as Sozomen and Socrates testify, and both 
prelates were recognised by the Council of Aquileja, held in 
381. Meletius presided in a Council of Antioch, held in 379, 
and solemnly embraced the decree of Damasus and the Ro- 
man synod against the errors of Apollinaris, adding anathema 
to the gainsayers : the acts of which council were accepted 
at Rome, and placed in the archives of that See, bound up 
with those of the Roman synod, as appears from ancient 
manuscripts. The fathers of the Council of Constantinople, 
held in 382, in which Meletius was present, in their letter 
to the Pope, bore testimony to the integrity of his faith, of 
which the acts of the Council of Antioch, which they men- 
tioned with praise, were a splendid evidence. The accept- 
ance, by Meletius, of the doctrinal definition of Damasus, 
and the approval by the Pontiff of the proceedings of the 
Council of Antioch, were solemn acts of direct communion, 
which show that Meletius did not die separated from unity, 
from Which, in reality, he was never excluded. 

It is worthy of the truly liberal spirit of the Holy See to 
render homage after death to a bishop whom, for a conside- 
rable period, it treated with distrust, under false impressions 
which time has removed. The integrity of the faith of Me- 
letius, the legitimacy of his ordination, and the eminence of 
his virtues, were generally recognised after his death, when 
rival pretensions and interests could no longer cast a cloud 
over them. The successors of Damasus have united with the 
East in the celebration of his virtues, and his name was in- 
scribed on the records of illustrious prelates of the Church, 
who, in difficult times, preserved the faith, and cultivated 



* He wishes him the crown of martyrdom. f Ep. xvi., Damaso. 

8 



126 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



piety. His example may serve to show that a man can 
attain to sanctity and salvation, although, from miscon- 
ception and misrepresentation, he be not favored with the 
special marks of communion with the chief bishop : but 
it offers no security to such as persevere in sects sepa- 
rated from the Church, contrary to the divine law, which en- 
joins submission to our lawful pastors, and contrary to the 
divine constitution of the Church, of which unity is the dis- 
tinctive principle. Meletius was neither the leader nor mem- 
ber of a sect. He held the truth as it is in Christ ; he received 
with docility the teaching of the chief bishop ; he professed 
adhesion to his authority, and it was his misfortune, not his 
fault, that he could not for a time succeed in dissipating the 
suspicions that deprived him of official intercourse. 

The great solicitude of the Bishop i of Antioch to enjoy the 
communion of the Apostolic See, appears from the efforts made 
in their behalf by St. John Chrysostom on his elevation to the 
See of Constantinople. Having been priest of that Church he 
charged the ambassadors whom he sent to notify his own elec- 
tion, to use their influence to procure a formal recognition by 
the Pope of the actual bishop. Ambassadors also came from 
Flavian himself, as Innocent I. testifies : " The Church of Anti- 
och, which the blessed apostle Peter, before he came to the city 
of Rome, illustrated by his presence, as a sister of the Roman 
Church, did not suffer herself to be long estranged from her, 
for, having sent ambassadors, she sought and obtained peace."* 
The misunderstanding had lasted seventeen years ; but it im- 
plied no difference of belief, or breach of unity. It arose from 
the difficulty of putting facts in their true light, and dissi- 
pating prejudices honestly entertained against individuals. It 
is freely admitted that in such circumstances the want of 
direct communion with the Apostolic See may not be fatal to 
the claims of membership of the Catholic Church : but her unity 
and catholicity manifestly forbid us to consider as members of 
the Church those who positively reject her communion. 

Mr. Palmer, after having assigned unity as a mark of the 
Church, labors with great industry to prove that it is possible 
that she can be divided in respect of external communion : 
thus throwing down with one hand what he builds up with 



* Ep. xxiih, Bonifacio, col. 852, t. 1. Constant. 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



127 



the other. He particularly endeavors to show, that at various 
times the communion between the Church of Rome and the 
oriental churches was actually interrupted, as after the death 
of St. Chrysostom, when the Roman Church, followed by all 
the West, refused to communicate with the oriental bishops, 
especially with Theophilus of Alexandria, as long as they 
declined to re-establish the memory of the holy Bishop of 
Constantinople. This, however, was not an absolute excom- 
munication, excluding them from the pale of the Church, but a 
denial of the usual marks of brotherhood, in order to compel 
them to do justice to the memory of a persecuted prelate. 
When Acacius, Bishop of the same See, was excommunicated 
by the Pope, he could no longer be a member of the Church, 
since Christ binds in heaven those whom his vicar binds on 
earth. The oriental bishops who adhered to him violated 
their duty, and such of them as professed the heresy for which 
he was condemned, forfeited thereby the communion of the 
Church : but those who only indulged partisan attachment, 
without rejecting the faith and communion of the Pontiff, and 
who were not expressly separated from the Church by his act, 
might be considered as still included among her members. 
The period of thirty-five years which elapsed before this dis- 
sension was healed, was not one of absolute interruption. 
The communion between the East and the West was partially 
suspended, rather than broken off; the Pope refusing to give 
tokens of his communion to the oriental prelates, as long as 
the name of Acacius remained on the sacred tablets. The 
condition on which a reconciliation took place was a solemn 
engagement on the part of John, Bishop of Constantinople, to 
admit to be inscribed on the tablets of the Church, the names 
of none who did not in all things harmonize with the Aposto- 
lic See : " We promise," said he, writing to Pope Hormisdas, 
in the year 515, that *' hereafter the names of such as are 
separated from the communion of the Catholic Church, that is, 
such as do not in all things harmonize with the Apostolic See, 
shall not be recited in the celebration of the sacred myste- 
ries. '* Thus harmony with the Holy See was declared to be 
identical with communion with the Catholic Church. 

In the great schism between the rival claimants of the papal 



* Cone, t. ii., col. 1077. 



128 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



chair, in the fourteenth century, there was no absolute breach 
of the unity of the Church, by the rejection of the pontifical 
authority, which the parties solemnly recognised, although the 
doubt which existed as to the fact — who was lawful Pontiff — 
prevented their mutual intercourse. No instance can be pro- 
duced from the history of the Church to prove that any one 
who openly denies the primacy of the Apostolic See, or who 
is solemnly excommunicated by the lawful occupant of the 
papal chair, can be regarded as a member of the Church : 
much less can it be shown that any local church, or any col- 
lection of churches, absolutely separated by their own act, or 
by the act of the Pontiff, from his communion, can be consi- 
dered as portions of the universal Church. On the contrary, 
the unanimous teaching of the fathers demonstrates that the 
unity of the Church is indivisible, and that she is one, not only 
in each place by her local government, but throughout the 
world, by the compact connexion of all her parts ; on which 
account she is compared by St. Cyprian to a tree, whose bran- 
ches spread all around, to a spring whose waters flow through 
numberless channels, and to the sun whose rays shed light 
abroad throughout the entire earth : " The Church is one, which, 
by the growth of its fruitfulness, is spread widely into a mul- 
titude : as there are many rays of the sun, but one light, and 
many branches of a tree, but one trunk planted in the clinging 
root : and though from one source man}^ rivers flow, so that 
there seem to be many several streams, by reason of the ful- 
ness of the abundant flood, yet is the oneness maintained in 
the original spring. Take off a ray from the body of the sun, 
the unity of light admits no division ; cut off a stream from the 
source — that which is cut off dries up ; so the Church, filled 
throughout with the light of the Lord, spreads its rays through 
the whole world ; yet is it only one light which is everywhere 
diffused ; nor is the unity of the body severed : by reason of 
its abundant fulness it stretches its rays into all the earth, it 
pours widely its flowing streams, yet there is one head, and 
one beginning, and one mother, teeming with continual fruit- 
fulness."* 

The instances alleged by Mr. Allies, a more amiable 
controvertist, to prove that portions of the Church, could 



* Cyprian de Unit. EccL 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



129 



remain out of communion with the Roman Pontiff, are 
not in point. The Archbishops of Aquileja, with their 
suffragans, ceased to be members of the Church, when, 
through obstinacy in rejecting the fifth Council, they broke 
off communion with the Holy See. The Spanish prelates, 
and others sound in faith, but prejudiced against the au- 
thority of that Council, were not out of the communion of 
the Pontiff, who wisely forbore to inflict any censure, whilst 
hope remained of dissipating the prejudice under which they 
labored. Revealed truth must be maintained, and false doc- 
trine must be proscribed, at every hazard ; but errors regard- 
ing persons and facts may be dissembled for a time, where 
principle is secure and faith inviolate. In the West generally, 
great prejudice prevailed against the fifth Council, because the 
condemnation which it pronounced on the works of Theodore 
of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, and Ibas, which were 
styled " the three chapters," was supposed to be in opposition 
to the proceedings of the Council of Chalcedon, which had re- 
ceived Theodoret and Ibas to communion. The absence of 
the western bishops from the Council, and the reluctance with 
which Pope Vigilius had finally yielded to the importunities 
of the eastern prelates, did not present its claims to oecume- 
nical authority in a favorable light. For this reason his suc- 
cessors were slow to cut off from the Church those who re- 
fused to receive it : but after they had exhausted all the 
resources of a wise condescension and untiring zeal, they 
finally deprived the obstinate of communion. The schism 
which thence ensued lasted during a century and a half, 
until Peter, patriarch of Aquileja, in a synod held in the year 
699, abjured it, and received with submission the decrees of 
the Council. 

Although the fathers of Frankfort preserved sacred images 
in the churches with religious reverence, they were unac- 
quainted with the practices regarding their veneration which 
prevailed in the East, and were led to believe that the second 
Nicene Council had sanctioned their absolute worship ; on 
which account they rejected its authority. They did not, 
however, renounce the communion of the Pope, who had ap- 
proved of its decrees ; nor did he feel himself bound to ex- 
communicate them on account of a misconception which might 
soon be removed. In the government of the Church, abstract 



130 



CENTRE OF UNITY. 



notions of authority must not lead to the hasty adoption of 
extreme measures, but every mild means should be first employ- 
ed. Whatever idea may be entertained of the authority of 
the Popes, or of Councils, its exercise must be supported with 
the evidence of its justice, in order to ensure a real sub- 
mission. The opposition made for a time by any number 
of bishops to either, proves not that the authority was de- 
nied, but that the justice of its exercise was disputed, which 
may happen even in regard to special decrees of a tribunal 
infallible in doctrine — such as is confessedly a general 
Council. 

It is painful to see learned and estimable men laboring to 
reconcile the unity of the Church with the isolated state of 
the Anglican communion. What Cyprian and Augustin de- 
clared to be an inseparable attribute of the Church, becomes 
a mere accidental quality, which, by an unfortunate combina- 
tion of circumstances, may be forfeited for a time, and if for 
a time, for ever : "A total suspension of communion," says Mr. 
Manning, "has sometimes lasted for many years, without 
either side incurring the sin of formal heresy or schism, which 
alone separate a church from the body of Christ. And what 
has lasted long may last always ! "* It is an awful thing, say 
these apologists of the Church of England, to violate unity, 
since out of the Church there is no salvation ; but they chari- 
tably employ themselves in throwing her gates wide open, to 
receive within her the most promiscuous multitude. The 
cause of their inconsistency is, that they seek to unite two or 
more buildings as one vast edifice, without a common founda- 
tion. They wish to form of various independent societies a 
nation without a general ruler. They aim at unity without 
being willing to recognise its centre and principle, which 
Christ established in Peter. 



* Manning on the Unity of the Church, &c, p. 274. 



CHAPTER X. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 

§ 1. Disturbances at Corinth. 

It is declared by St. Paul that heresies are attended with ad- 
vantage, inasmuch as they serve to try men, and to distinguish 
the faithful and stable from the unsteady and perverse : 
" there must be also heresies, that they also who are approved, 
may be made manifest among you."* They serve, at the 
same time, to mark more clearly the faith of the Church, and 
to render it more illustrious. In like manner schisms, con- 
troversies, and scandals become, in the designs of Providence, 
instrumental for good, afford us a salutary warning to shun 
strife and crime, and lead us to respect authority. 

Towards the end of the first century, before the death of 
St. John the apostle, violent commotions broke out at Corinth, 
in which the clergy suffered from the sedition of rash and 
misguided men. The persecutions which about the same 
time raged at Rome, prevented immediate action in the case 
on the part of the Church of this city ; but as soon as an in- 
terval of peace was granted, an effort to restore harmony was 
made in the name of the Roman Church, and a letter of ex- 
postulation and advice was sent, which was so esteemed and 
venerated, that long afterwards it was wont to be read pub- 
licly in the Church of Corinth,f and it is justly valued among 
the most precious monuments of Christian antiquity. Mes- 
sengers were despatched who were charged to use every 
exertion to re-establish order. The terms of the letter may 
not satisfy a fastidious critic that superior authority was 
claimed by the writer, because persuasion only is used ; but 



* 1 Cor. xi. 19. f Dionys. cor. apud Euseb., Hist. Eccl.,1. iv.,c.xxiiL 



132 ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 

the judicious reader will easily understand, that where pas- 
sions are excited, they can scarcely be subdued by urging 
abstract views of power. The interposition of a distant pre- 
late in the internal affairs of the Church of Corinth, cannot 
be accounted for satisfactorily unless by reference to his uni- 
versal charge, especially as the apostle John, then residing at 
Ephesus, was much nearer to the scene of strife, and could 
hope to exercise greater personal influence, besides the au- 
thority of his office. Had not Clement felt it to be his duty, 
he scarcely would have ventured, in such circumstances, to 
address the revolters. That he wrote the letter, although it 
bears the name of " the Church of God which is at Rome," 
is attested by Irenaeus, a writer of the next age ;* and the 
title is sufficiently accounted for by the ancient custom of as- 
sembling the clergy on occasions of great importance, and 
acting with their advice and concurrence. The bishop and 
the church were identified in such acts, since, as St. Cyprian 
remarks, " the church is the people united with the priest and 
the flock following its pastor ; whence you should know that 
the bishop is in the church, and the church is in the bishop."f 

§ 2. Paschal Controversy. 

The second century affords us more decisive proofs of the 
official interference of the Bishop of Rome in the affairs of 
the Eastern churches. A difference of discipline in regard 
to the time of celebrating Easter existed, from the commence- 
ment, between the churches of Asia Minor and the Western 
churches. The former alleged the authority of St. John the 
evangelist for celebrating it on the same day as the Jews ; 
thus changing the object of the festival, and commemorating 
the resurrection of our Lord, whilst the Jews ate of the pas- 
chal lamb. The Western churches, especially the Church of 
Rome, and also the Church of Alexandria, celebrated it on the 
Sunday following the Jewish feast, not wishing to appear to 
retain anything of the abrogated ceremonial. The matter in 
itself was indifferent, and the various usages may have been 
originally sanctioned by the respective apostles who founded 
the churches, since variety in discipline may be expedient, 
according to local circumstances. In places where the con- 



* L. iii., adv. haer., c. iii. 



f Ep. lxix., ad Pupianum. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



133 



verts from Judaism formed the main body of Christians, their 
transition to Christianity was rendered less difficult by retain- 
ing the day of their solemnity ; and thus the usages of the 
Asiatic churches may have had the sanction of St. John. At 
Rome, and wherever the churches were chiefly composed of 
converts from heathenism, the same delicate regard to Jewish 
feelings was not required ; and it seemed rather expedient to 
leave no occasion for supposing that any Judaical observance 
was still in force among Christians. Anicetus, who held the 
chair of St. Peter about the middle of the second century, 
endeavored to persuade Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, when he 
visited Rome, to conform to the more general usage ; but the 
venerable prelate pleaded so strongly in favor of the custom 
of the Asiatic churches, that Anicetus abstained from any 
positive prohibition, and treated his illustrious guest with the 
honor which his virtues and station deserved. 

Near the close of the same century, Victor, Bishop of Rome, 
resolved to procure uniformity even by recourse to severe 
measures. The Western bishops were unanimous in desiring 
it, and among others, Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, at the head of 
a synod in Gaul, wrote to the Asiatic churches, strongly re- 
commending it. # A letter to the same effect was issued in 
the name of Victor, by a Roman synod over which he pre- 
sided, exhorting the bishops of Asia to hold synods, in order 
to bring about the change. f At Caesarea of Palestine a nu- 
merous Council was held, which enacted that the Paschal 
festival should thenceforward be celebrated on Sunday : but 
Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, with a synod in which he pre- 
sided, persisted in defending the ancient usages. Victor re- 
solved on cutting off from his communion the refractory, which 
so alarmed Irenseus, that he wrote to him an earnest letter of 
remonstrance, deprecating the loss of so many churches to 
Catholic unity, for an observance which had been so long 
tolerated, and reminding him of the wise indulgence of Ani- 
cetus, who treated Polycarp with marked distinction, notwith- 
standing the tenacity with which he clung to the Asiatic 
usage. J All these facts, which are detailed by Eusebius, are 

* See letter of Irenseus, inter Ep. Rom., Pont. Constant., col. 105. 
f See letter of Polycrates to Victor, ibidem, col. 100. He states that he 
had summoned the bishops at his request. 
X L. v., Hist. Eccl., c. xxiii., xxiv. 



134 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



not called in question by any of the learned. Some doubt, 
however, exists whether Victor actually pronounced a sen- 
tence of excommunication or merely threatened to pronounce it. 

Of the justice and wisdom of the course pursued by Victor, 
different sentiments may be entertained : but it cannot fairly 
be questioned that he claimed authority over the Asiatic 
churches, and, at least, threatened to employ it, in the severest 
manner, to compel them to conform to the more general usage. 
The pertinacious adherence of Polycrates and other bishops 
to the custom of the East, may be used to show that the an- 
cient rites of local churches should not be wantonly proscribed, 
even by the Bishop of Rome : but it does not prove that his 
authority was called in question. In the letter of the- synod, 
which maintained the usage, precedents are insisted on as 
justifying it ; whilst the obvious reply is omitted, which would 
have been at once conclusive, had Victor no right to control 
the churches of the East. The holding of the Councils at his 
solicitation, the compliance of some of them with his injunc- 
tion, the plea of ancient precedent strongly urged by others, 
the remonstrance of IrenaBus against precipitate severity, all 
concur to prove that the authority of Victor was universally 
admitted, although the justice, or expediency, of its exercise 
was questioned. This is all that is implied in the words of 
Polycrates : " I am not at all moved by the threats held out 
to me : for greater than I have said : i It behooveth us to obey 
God, rather than men.'"* It is plain that he considered Vic- 
tor as commanding, and menacing ; but under the false im- 
pression that the day prescribed by God to the Jews was still 
obligatory, he refused obedience to what he deemed an un- 
just precept, and an abuse of authority. Had he recognised 
in the Roman Bishop no power to command, he would surely 
at once have repelled the attempt to dictate to him, and boldly 
denied his right of interference. 

Whether Victor actually issued an excommunication, or 
merely threatened to issue it, his claim to superior power is 
manifest. Potter speaks of his act as unjust, but adds: 
" however, it is a good evidence that excommunication was 
used at this time in the Church." j- He might have said with 

* Vide inter Rom. Pontif. epist. studio Petri Coustant, t. i., col. 99. 
f On Church Government, p. 335. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 135 

equal truth, that it is good evidence that the Bishop of Rome, 
in the decline of the second century, claimed power over the 
bishops of Asia, ordered them to hold synods with a view to 
put in execution his decree, and threatened them with excom- 
munication in case of resistance ; and that those who resisted 
his orders, did not call in question his authority. From the 
narrative of Eusebius, it is clear that his threat was not 
looked on as an insolent assumption of power, and an idle 
waste of words, but that every effort was made by argument, 
remonstrance, and entreaty to avert its execution. The judg- 
ment of the entire episcopal body in the Council of Nice, vin- 
dicated the wisdom and foresight of the Pontiff, by classing 
among heretics the Quartodecimans, who, under the false 
persuasion that the Mosaic law was still obligatory as far as 
the day of the paschal solemnity was concerned, persisted in 
celebrating the Christian festival on the same day on which 
the Jews offered the paschal victim. This is not the only in- 
stance in which the Popes have proved their deep discrimina- 
tion, and enlightened zeal, to reform usages pregnant with 
danger to the integrity of Christian faith, and have received 
the highest homage that could be rendered to their wisdom, by 
the final adhesion to their judgment, of the episcopal bod}% 
and of the whole Church. Like skilful pilots, they were the 
first to discern the distant speck, which gradually grew into 
a thunder-cloud, and burst in fury on the vessel of the Church, 
whose helm, with steady hand, they directed. 

§ 3. Montanism. 

The heresy broached by Montanus, of Mysia, in the decline 
of the second century, prevailed in various parts of Asia 
Minor and Phrygia. The heresiarch denied the lawfulness of 
second marriages, and the power of forgiving heinous sins, 
such as adultery, murder, and apostasy. Every effort was 
made by his followers to procure from the Bishop of Rome at 
least an indirect sanction for their errors, by the admission of 
their abettors to communion : and if the testimony of Tertul- 
lian, who embraced the sect, can be relied on, they actually 
succeeded in disposing him* to write to the Asiatic churches 
to this effect. However, the timely arrival of Praxeas, who 



* Tertullian does not give his name. 



136 ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



himself had been of their number, defeated their artifices.* 
The martyrs of Lyons . addressed Eleutherius, urging him to 
oppose the progress of the heresy by the authority of his 
office, which he accordingly employed for that purpose. f Of 
this mission, St. Jerom says : " Irenaeus, presbyter to Pothinus, 
the bishop who then ruled the Church of Lyons, in Gaul, was 
sent as legate by the martyrs of that place to Rome, concern- 
ing certain ecclesiastical questions."J 

The decree of the Bishop of Rome, by which adulterers, as 
well as other sinners, were declared admissible to commu- 
nion, after suitable penance, is mentioned by Tertullian in 
terms that prove him to be a reluctant witness to the pontifi- 
cal supremacy : " I hear that an edict has been published, and, 
indeed, a peremptory one : namely, the bishop of bishops, which 
is equivalent to the sovereign Pontiff, proclaims : I pardon the 
sins of adultery and fornication to such as have performed 
penance. This is read in the Church, and is proclaimed in 
the Church."§ The authority from which this decree ema- 
nated, was manifestly supreme, since it was thus publicly 
acknowledged by the solemn promulgation of this " peremp- 
tory " edict. The Bishop of Rome, of whom Tertullian con- 
fessedly speaks, is st}ded by him " bishop of bishops,"|| because 
he acted as having power over other bishops. It is not at all 
probable that he employed the language which the Montanist 
puts in his mouth, since the Popes have always abstained from 
the use of pompous and offensive titles : but his acts bespoke 
him to be the chief bishop, which was tantamount, in the 
mind of Tertullian, to that of sovereign Pontiff among the 
heathens. This was at that time justly detested, on account 
of the idolatrous functions which belonged to the office, al- 
though after the extirpation of idolatry, it has been applied 
in an innocuous sense to the High Priest of Christianity. Fa- 
ber, the Anglican controvertist, admits that the primacy was 
already claimed : " In the time of Tertullian, whose life ex- 
tended into the third century, a considerable advance had 
plainly been made by the See of Rome, in the claim of the 
primacy, inasmuch as he calls the Bishop of that Church the 

* Tertull. Lib. ad Praxeam. f Euseb. 1. v., Hist. Eccl., c. hi. 
J Cat Script. Eccl., t. iv., 113. § L de pudicitia, c. 1. 
J| " Pontifex scilicet Maximus, quod est episcopus episcoporum." There 
is an inversion in the sentence, which is quite familiar to Tertullian. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 137 



supreme Pontiff, and distinguished him with the title of Bishop 
of bishops."* 

In combating this decree, Tertullian maintained that the 
power given to Peter did not regard the remission of sins, and 
that, whatever it was, it was conferred on him personally, not 
communicated to the Church at large, or even to the local 
Church of which he was founder. Whilst recognising the 
Roman Bishop as "Apostolic," that is, successor of the apostle, 
and the Roman Church as Peter's Church, he insists that the 
duties of the bishop " are merely disciplinary, to preside, not 
imperiously, but ministerially," and denies his right to exercise 
the power of forgiveness: "I now ask your own sentiment, 
whence do you claim this power for the Church ? If, because 
the Lord said to Peter, ' on this rock I will build My Church,' 
4 to thee I have given the keys of the kingdom of heaven,' or, 
' whatsoever thou shalt bind or loose upon earth, shall be bound 
or loosed in heaven,' you presume, on that account, that the 
power of loosing and binding has come down to you, that is, to 
the whole Church allied to Peter ;f who are you, to overturn 
and change the manifest intention of the Lord, who conferred 
this on Peter personally? * On thee,' he says, ' I will build My 
Church, and to thee, {not to the Church,) I will give the keys, 
and whatsoever thou shalt bind or loose, not what they shall 
bind or loose ! "J This partisan effort to limit the promise to 
Peter personally should meet with little sympathy from those 
who strive to extend it to all the apostles, and to all bishops : 
yet Faber triumphs in the sophistry of the Montanist, and re- 
marks with complacency : " He flatly denies that it can be 
construed as belonging to what then began to be esteemed as 
Peter's Church."§ It is unfair to speak of this as a nascent 
opinion, since Tertullian used positive language, and else- 
where refers confidently to the succession of bishops from 
Peter, and the authority of their teaching. He is an unexcep- 
tionable witness of the claims of the Bishop of Rome in the 
decline of the second century, and of the authority which he 
effectually exercised, and which was courted by its opponents 

* Difficulties of Romanism, by George Stanley Faber. Note, p. 261, 
Phil. edit. 

f Ad omnem Ecclesiam Petri propinquam. 

X L. de pudicitia, c. xxi. § Difficulties of Romanism. Note, p. 261. 



> 



138 ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 

with a view to betray him into some measure favorable to 
their errors. It was felt in Phrygia, where the sect numbered 
a multitude of votaries ; and in Africa, where it was assailed by 
the powerful logician whose subtilties we have exposed. At 
the same time it was venerated in Gaul, by the martyrs, who 
from their dungeons implored its exercise, to preserve the faith 
in its integrity. 

§ 4. Controversy concerning Baptism. 

The dispute concerning baptism administered in heretical 
sects rose to a high pitch of excitement in the middle of the 
third century. The various sects that denied the mystery of 
the Trinity naturally introduced changes into the form of 
words used in baptizing, by which it was entirely vitiated ; 
and, of course, no account was had of the act, when converts 
from those sects sought to be admitted to the Catholic Church. 
The custom of baptizing such persons was extended in some 
parts of Africa to converts from all the sects, even to such as 
had been baptized with the due form of words ; which usage 
had received the sanction of Agrippinus, Bishop of Carthage, 
in a Council held in the early part of the third century. St. 
Cyprian added his approval in several Councils, through horror 
for heresy, and love for Catholic unity, " reprobating the bap- 
tism of heretics, and sent the acts of an African synod held on 
this subject, to Stephen, who was at that time Bishop of the city 
of Rome."* His ambassadors, however, were not received to 
communion by the Pontiff, who was highly displeased at this 
attempt to establish a usage different from the general cus- 
tom of the Church, founded on ancient tradition. In reply, he 
sent to Cyprian a command in these terms : " Let no change 
be made, contrary to what has been handed down." This de- 
cree was received with murmurs by the bishops of Africa. — 
Cyprian at their head, in a subsequent Council, continued to ad- 
here to the usage which he had previously sanctioned, profes- 
sing, however, that he did not mean to force others to conform 
to his practice, since each was responsible to God for the ad- 
ministration of his diocess. " No one of us," he says, " con- 
stitutes himself a bishop of bishops, or, by tyrannical terror, 
compels his colleagues to the necessity of obedience, since 



* St. Jerom, Dial. adv. Lucifer. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 139 



every bishop enjoys his own judgment according to the liberty 
of his power, and can no more be judged by another, than he 
can judge another. Let us all await the judgment of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, who alone has the power both to place us over 
the government of his Church, and to judge of our conduct."* 
Were these words taken as they sound, they would suppose 
each bishop absolute and independent ; whereas all antiquity 
attests that the action of individual bishops may be directed 
and controlled by synodical enactments — not to speak at pre- 
sent of the authority of the Holy See, — and that delinquents 
may be removed for mal-administration, or misconduct. St. 
Cyprian, then, cannot be understood in this sense. He him- 
self, as we shall hereafter see, had solicited the Pontiff to re- 
move Marcian from Aries, and approved of the deposition of 
Basilides, which had been made in a Spanish Council. The 
liberty which he claimed was in matters not decided by the 
supreme authority of the Church, as St. Augustin testifies. - ) - 
He stated, with complacency, that neither he himself, nor any of 
his African colleagues, acted as " bishop of bishops," because 
all were willing to allow a difference of sentiment and prac- 
tice in the matter of baptism ; which they did not conceive to 
interest faith, and which they referred to the judgment of God ; 
and he attached the more importance to their harmony in sen- 
timent, as being totally unconstrained and uninfluenced. If he 
be supposed to use these terms sarcastically, with reference to 
Stephen, it must be allowed that this Pontiff claimed and exer- 
cised the authority of a superior. Such is the tenor of the 
extant documents, which are considered by most writers as 
genuine, although their authenticity was questioned by some 
so far back as the days of St. Augustin. J 

The practice of baptizing anew converts from heresy had 
also crept into some provinces of Asia, and " Stephen had 
written concerning Helenus, and Firmilian, and all the priests 
throughout Cilicia, Cappadocia, and all the neighboring pro- 
vinces, that he would not communicate with them, for this very 
reason, that they rebaptized heretics."§ Dionysius, Bishop of 



* Sententiae episcoporum, Ixxxvii., de har. bapt. 
\ De Bapt contra Donatistas, 1. iii., c. iii. 
\ Ep xciii., ad Vincentium Rogat., § 38. 
§ Dionys. Alex., apud Euseb., I. Hist Eccl. 



140 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



Alexandria, who states the fact, wrote to Stephen, deprecating 
this severity. 

This serious dispute shows the authority which the Bishop 
of Rome exercised in the middle of the third century, and 
which, even when resisted, on account of its supposed abuse, 
was, in fact, acknowledged. The transmission of the proceed- 
ings of the African synod to Rome was a marked testimony of 
the pre-eminence of the Roman Bishop ; and his immediate 
action in the case proves that he conceived himself authorized 
to judge of the correctness of the canons, and to rescind them, 
when found in opposition to the general and ancient usages of 
the Church. It was viewed in this light by St. Vincent of Le- 
rins, a profound writer of the fifth century, who points to it as 
an instance in which novelty was successfully opposed by the 
successors of Peter. " When, therefore, all cried out from all 
quarters against the novelty, and all priests, in every place, 
struggled against it, each according to his zeal, Pope Stephen, 
of blessed memory, who at that time was prelate of the Apos- 
tolic See, resisted, in conjunction indeed with his colleagues, 
but yet more than his colleagues, thinking it fit, as I suppose, 

THAT HE SHOULD SURPASS ALL OTHERS IN THE DEVOTEDNESS OF HIS 
FAITH, AS MUCH AS HE EXCELLED THEM BY THE AUTHORITY OF HIS STA- 
TION. Finally, in the epistle which was then sent to Africa, 
he decreed in these words : that ■ no innovation should be ad- 
mitted, BUT THAT WHAT WAS HANDED DOWN SHOULD BE RETAINED.' 

What power had the African Council or decree? None, 
through the mercy of God."* 

The history of this controversy plainly proves, that on both 
sides it was maintained that Stephen held the place of Peter. 
We are asked how could Cyprian have dared resist, if he had 
regarded Stephen as his ecclesiastical superior 1 The answer 
is obvious. Because he believed that Stephen rashly employed 
his authority to proscribe a practice intimately connected with 
the unity and sanctity of the Church. Respectful remonstrance 
is permitted whenever authority is injudiciously exercised ; Cy- 
prian felt that to acknowledge the baptism of heretics was 
virtually to sanction heresy, by communicating to an adulteress 
the unalienable privileges of the pure Spouse of Christ ; and 
resting on her acknowledged unity, he rejected the pretensions 



* Commonit., c. viii. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 141 

of every other body. Stephen, relying on ancient usage and 
tradition, condemned the novel practice, and the decree made 
in its support ; yet he did not issue a formal definition of faith. 
It is superfluous to conjecture what the conduct of Cyprian 
would have been, had the general practice of the Church and 
her ancient tradition been clearly proved, and the question fi- 
nally decided in his day : but in the facts of the case we have 
evidence of a most unequivocal exercise of superior power on 
the part of the Pontiff. On the other hand, we behold the ad- 
vocates of the novel usage deriving an argument against his 
conduct from his station as successor of Peter, and official 
guardian of Catholic unity. On this point Firmilian of Cap- 
padocia especially relied, in his irreverent invective against the 
pontifical decree. "I am," said he, "justly indignant at this 
open and manifest folly of Stephen, who, whilst he boasts of 
the place of his bishopric, and contends that he holds the suc- 
cession of Peter, upon whom the foundations of the Church 
were placed, brings in, nevertheless, many other rocks, and 
builds the new edifices of many churches, defending their bap- 
tism by his authority. The greatness of the error, and the 
strange blindness of him who says that the remission of sins 
can be given in the synagogues of heretics, and does not abide 
on the foundation of the one Church, which was once built by 
Christ on the rock, may be understood from this, that to Peter 
alone Christ said : ' Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall 
be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on 
earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.' "* Had the claims of 
Stephen to the place and power of Peter been questionable, 
Firmilian doubtless would have denied them, in order to show 
that the decree forbidding innovation was void of all autho- 
rity ; whereas he contents himself with drawing thence an ar- 
gument for his error, and accuses Stephen of dishonoring the 
memory of the apostles Peter and Paul, whose place he occu- 
pied, by referring to them the usage of admitting the baptism 
of heretics. The language which he uses towards Stephen is 
an evidence of the warmth of feeling with which he defended 
his favorite practice, in opposition to the high authority which 
condemned it. Had it been in his power to deny the authority 
itself, he would surely have done it in no measured terms. 



* Ep. Firmiliani inter Cyprian. 
9 



142 ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 

Writing to Jubaian, against baptism administered by here- 
tics, St. Cyprian maintained that the remission of sins cannot 
be imparted by it, because heretics have no share in the powers 
of forgiveness granted to Peter, the foundation of the Church, 
and the source of unity, which power was communicated to 
the other apostles likewise : " It is manifest where and through 
whom the remission of sins, namely, that which is given in 
baptism, can be given. For the Lord gave this power in the 

FIRST PLACE TO PETER, ON WHOM He BUILT HlS CHURCH, AND WHENCE 

He established and showed the origin of unity ; that what he 
would loose on earth, might be loosed also in heaven. And 
after the resurrection, he speaks to the apostles likewise, say- 
ing : * As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.' "* " The 
Lord cries out : Let him that thirsteth come and drink of the 
streams of living water that flow from Him. Whither shall 
he who thirsts come ? — to the heretics, where there is no foun- 
tain and river of the water of life, or to the Church, which is 
one, and was founded by the voice of the Lord upon one, who 
also received its keys ? "j- Although St. Cyprian, under the er- 
roneous persuasion that baptism administered by heretics is 
not valid, uses these texts to establish this false position, his 
acknowledgment of the primacy is in no degree weakened. 
His admission that Peter was the rock on which Christ built 
His Church, and that he is the source of unity, is the more im- 
portant, inasmuch as it was his interest to call it in question, 
whilst he resisted a mandate of the bishop whom he acknow- 
ledged to hold the place of Peter. " Custom," he says else- 
where, " must not be allowed to prescribe, but reason must 
prevail. For neither did Peter, whom the Lord chose to be 
first, and on whom He built His Church, when Paul afterwards 
disputed with him in regard to circumcision, insolently claim, 
or arrogantly assume anything, saying that he held the pri- 
macy, and should be obeyed by those who were recent in the 
faith and posterior to him in the order of time. J Nor did he 
despise Paul, because he had been a persecutor of the Church ; 
but he admitted the counsel of truth, and readily agreed to 
the just reason which Paul alleged ; giving us an example of 
concord and patience, that we should not obstinately cherish 
our own sentiments, but rather adopt as our own those which 

* Ep. lxxiii., § 7. Jubajano. 

f Ibidem, $11. % Called after him to the apostolate. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



143 



are sometimes usefully and wisely suggested by our brethren 
and colleagues."* This observation is evidently directed to 
show that Stephen should not rest on his superior authority : 
but should rather imitate the condescension of Peter, who, 
waiving the consideration of his own primacy, yielded to the 
remonstrance of Paul. 

Mr. Allies, with his accustomed candor, avows that St. 
Cyprian acknowledged the primacy, notwithstanding his re- 
sistance to the decree of Stephen : " I most fully believe, be 
it observed, that Cyprian acknowledged the Roman primacy, 
that he admitted certain high prerogatives to be lodged in the 
Roman Pontiff, as St. Peter's successor, which did not belong 
to any other bishop."f Of the writings of Cyprian on this 
point we may say with Augustin : " I will not review what he 
uttered against Stephen in the heat of dispute." J 

We are not certain whether St. Cyprian finally conformed 
to the decree of St. Stephen. St. Jerom says : that " his effort 
(to change the ancient custom) proved vain ; and finally those 
very bishops, who with him had determined that heretics 
should be re-baptized, turning back to the ancient custom, 
issued a new decree."§ St. Vincent of Lerins does not name 
him as the defender of the African usage. Eusebius, who 
mentions him, does not state any act in support of it subse- 
quently to the pontifical prohibition. || St. Augustin supposes 
him to have retracted, if he at all entertained the erroneous 
views imputed to him, of which he insinuates a doubt, or at 
least to have persevered in unity, and atoned for the involun- 
tary error, by the abundance of his charity, and the glory of 
his martyrdom. In reply to the Donatists, he says : " Cyprian 
either did not at all think, as you represent him to have 
thought, or he afterwards corrected the error bj* the rule of 
truth ; or he covered this blemish of his fair breast with the 
abundance of his charity, whilst he defended most eloquently 
the unity of the Church spread throughout the whole world, 
and held most steadfastly the bond of peace."^[ " If this glo- 
rious branch," (of the mystical vine,) he elsewhere says, " had 
in this respect any need of any purification, it was cleansed by 

* Cypr. ad Quint. Ep. lxxi., p. 297. Ed. Wirceb. 

t Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 32. % L. v., Contra Donat, c. xxv, 
§ Dial. adv. Lucifer. || L. vii., c. iii., Hist. Eccl T Ep. Vincent. 



144 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



the glorious scythe of martyrdom, not because he was slain for 
the name of Christ, but because he was slain in the bosom of 
unity for the name of Christ ; for he himself wrote, and most 
confidently asserted, that they who are out of unity, though 
they should die for that name, may be slain, but cannot be 
crowned."* "You are, indeed, accustomed to object to us the 
letters of Cyprian, the opinion of Cyprian, the Council of Cy- 
prian : why do you take the authority of Cyprian for your 
schism, and reject his example for the peace of the Church ?"f 

§ 5. Donatism. 

The Donatists were originally engaged in a mere personal 
contest, in which the disappointed ambition of Majorinus was 
chiefly interested. They sought to induce the Emperor Con- 
stantino to second their efforts against Cecilian, the Catholic 
Bishop of Carthage, who had been ordained by Felix of Ap- 
tugna, accused by them of having betrayed the sacred books 
to the heathens in time of persecution. " Constantine," says 
St. Augustin, " not daring to judge a bishop, committed to 
bishops the trial and decision of the case : which took place 
in the city of Rome, Melchiades, Bishop of that Church, pre- 
siding, with many of his colleagues." J The emperor ordered 
the parties to sail to Rome, and present themselves before 
the Bishop of that See, with three bishops of Gaul, as 
was conformable to the Divine law.§ This law required 
that a bishop should be judged, not by a secular tribunal, but 
by bishops, in a case where the very title to his office depend- 
ed on the issue of the trial. The same law constituted the 
Bishop of Rome chief or supreme judge, whence the sentence 
is ascribed to him by St. Augustin and St. Optatus. The dig- 
nity of the See of Carthage, to which the primacy of all the 
African churches was attached, rendered it fit that the charges 
against its prelate should, in the first instance, be laid before 
the highest tribunal. 

That Melchiades sat in judgment of his own right as the 
highest ecclesiastical judge, appears from the freedom with 
which he acted, in selecting a number of Italian bishops to aid 
him in the trial. The Donatists had sought to induce Constan- 

* Ep. cviii., ad Macr. f L. ii., de bapt., contra Donat., c. iii., p. 98. 
| Epist. cv., olim. xvi. § Vide ep. Constantini Miltiadi. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



145 



tine to submit the case for examination to the bishops of Gaul, 
where persecution had not raged under Constantius Chlorus ; 
from which circumstance they affected to hope for a more im- 
partial investigation of the alleged guilt of the African bishops. 
The emperor so far yielded to their importunities as to as- 
sociate with Melchiades three bishops of that nation ; but the 
Pontiff feeling that their presence was intended to satisfy the 
Donatists of the impartiality of the trial, without interfering 
with the rights of his see, summoned fifteen Italian bishops to 
unite with them in hearing the cause : a liberty which he 
could not have taken, were he acting as a mere delegate. 
By this act he plainly showed his conviction that the im- 
perial commission was not designed to add to, or take from 
his intrinsic authority, although it was calculated to give 
civil force to his sentence, and thus secure its execution. 

The moderation and indulgence of Melchiades in the case 
of the Donatists are justly admired by St. Augustin. A secular 
judge rigorously decides according to the letter of the law. 
and the merits of the case, having generally no power to 
qualify or mitigate the sentence. The ecclesiastical judge has 
truth and justice always in view ; but he is empowered to 
temper the exercise of justice so as to procure the salvation of 
the guilty, and dispose them for submission, not only by re- 
mitting the penalty, but even by extending favor. Thus it 
was that Melchiades, after he had pronounced Cecilian in- 
nocent, undertook to conciliate his prosecutors. " How 
admirable," exclaims Augustin, "was the final sentence of 
Melchiades ! how faultless ! how upright ! how provident and 
peaceful ! By it he did not venture to remove from the college 
of bishops his colleagues, against whom nothing had been prov- 
ed ; but having passed special censure on Donatus alone, whom 
he had found to be the author of the whole disorder, he gave 
to the others the opportunity of regaining a sound state, being 
ready to give letters of communion even to such as were known 
to have been ordained by Majorinus, so that wherever there 
were two bishops, in consequence of the dissension, he ordered 
him who had been first ordained to be confirmed in the see, and 
another flock to be committed to the government of the other. 
O ! excellent man ! O ! child of Christian peace, and father of 
the Christian people ! " # The power and authority of Mel- 

* Ep. xliii., olim. clxii., n. 16. 



146 ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



chiades are manifest from this decision. He regulates the 
claims of the contending parties, and requires from some such 
sacrifice of rights as is necessary to promote harmony. For 
the general interests of Christian unity, he removes bishops to 
other sees, according to the accidental circumstance of priority 
of ordination. In a word, he regulates the affairs of the distant 
churches of Africa with entire freedom, but with a strict re- 
gard to charity and peace. 

The complaints of the Donatists to Constantine of the injus- 
tice of the Roman sentence appear to some to have assumed 
the form of an appeal ; which, however, was not strictly the 
case, since it is not usual for judges, from whose sentence the 
appeal is lodged, to sit in the higher court, and revise the cause 
with their colleagues.* It is certain that Constantine granted 
a new trial, which may be more properly called a revision of 
the proceedings, to take place in a numerous assembly at 
Aries, in which the Roman judges were present, and Melchia- 
des was represented by his legates. This was a measure 
which the emperor declared to be altogether unnecessary ; but 
he wished to confound the boldness of the Donatists, by the 
number of their judges, who, he felt confident, would renew the 
sentence already passed on them. The matter as yet was per- 
sonal, rather than doctrinal : the trial of a bishop was ac- 
knowledged to be of ecclesiastical cognizance : Constantine 
could well have closed their mouths for ever, by insisting on 
the execution of the Roman sentence ; but he suffered himself 
to be importuned until he granted that which was irregular. 
The weakness of the prince only served to show forth more 
splendidly the eminent dignity of the Pontiff, who, consenting 
to the revision of the cause, despatched his legates to preside 
in his place, being unwilling to leave anything untried which 
could place the facts in clearer light, and lead the misguided 
to the peace and unity of the Church. Mr. Allies, after reciting 
the statement of the facts which St. Augustin has left on re- 
cord, asks : " Did he who wrote these words mean to censure 
Constantine for granting a second hearing after the judgment 
of Pope Melchiades ? "f The holy doctor was wont to speak 
with reverence of the imperial majesty: but no doubt can be 

* This, however, takes place in the Supreme Court of the United States, 
f Church of England Cleared, p. 45. 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



147 



entertained that he judged further trial unnecessary, since, 
when the Pelagians clamored for a new examination of their 
doctrines, Augustin replied : " Why do you still seek an in- 
vestigation, which has already taken place before the Apos- 
tolic See?"* 

In the Council which was held at Aries in 314, bishops were 
assembled from Sicily, Campania, Apulia, Dalmatia, Italy, 
Gaul, Britain, Spain, Mauritania, Sardinia, Africa, and Numi- 
dia, who, at the conclusion of their proceedings, addressed " the 
most beloved, most glorious Pope, Sylvester," in terms of de- 
served reverence, denoting his apostolic authority : " Would to 
God, most beloved brother, you had been present at this great 
spectacle ! we feel convinced that a severer sentence would 
have been passed on them (the Donatists) ; and you sitting in 
judgment with us, our assembly would have experienced 
greater exultation. But you could not leave those parts 
where the Apostles sit, (in judgment,) and their bloodf inces- 
santly attests the Divine glory."J The fathers made known 
to the Pontiff their decrees on various points, that through him 
who had the great dioceses§ under his charge, they might be 
communicated to all the churches. The greater power of the 
Roman Bishop appears from the severity of the sentence which 
was expected from him ; and his office, as successor of the 
apostles, is clearly marked as the source of his authority. 

The Donatists appealed, as in a secular and profane cause, 
to the final judgment of the emperor, who, yielding again to 
their solicitations, took cognizance of it, but confirmed the 
decision. 

I am not obliged to prove that Melchiades, of his own right, 
could have tried and judged the African bishops, without the 
aid of any Council, or the liberty of appeal. It is enough for 
my present purpose, that the eminent authority of the Roman 
Bishop was manifest in the proceedings, and that he exercised 
a power which the emperor could not delegate, by his enact- 
ment in regard to the Donatist bishops returning to unity. 

Thus it is clear, that in the chief controversies of the second, 
third and fourth centuries, the authority of the Roman Bishop 

* Oper. imperf. contra. Julianum, L ii., c. ciii. 

f The memory of their martyrdom. J Ep. ii., Syn. Arelat. 

§ The western provinces of the Roman empire were so called. 



148 



ANCIENT EXAMPLES OF PAPAL AUTHORITY. 



was exercised and admitted. To imagine that he interfered 
in Asia and in Africa, and menaced the bishops with excommu- 
nication, without having any authority superior to theirs, is to 
indulge in the speculations of fancy against the evidence of 
facts. To ascribe the authority to ecclesiastical arrangement, 
is to mistake its character altogether, since it was exercised 
before any General Council had been convened, and was al- 
ways referred, not only by its claimants, but even by those 
who, in particular cases, opposed it, to a divine origin, namely, 
the privileges bestowed by Christ on Peter. 



CHAPTER XL 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 

§ 1. Constancy of the Holy See. 

As the confession of the divinity of Christ gave occasion to the 
sublime promise of the primacy, and the prayer of Christ was 
offered for Peter that his faith might not fail, it is the chief 
duty of his successors to guard with jealous care the integrity 
of divine revelation. Theophylact, a Greek writer of the 
eleventh century, whose commentaries represent the interpre- 
tation of the ancient Greek fathers, thus paraphrases the ad- 
dress of our Lord to Peter at the last supper : " Since I regard 
you as prince of the disciples, after you shall have wept for de- 
nying Me, confirm your brethren, for it behooves you to do so, 
since you, after Me, are the rock and foundation of the 
Church."* This duty has been strictly discharged by the 
Bishops of Rome, whose primacy has been signally exercised 
in proclaiming the divine truths without reserve, and proscrib- 
ing every error opposed to them. In the confidence that the 
prayer of Christ was effectual, each Pontiff exercised his high 
prerogative, giving to Him the glory : " He asked and He ob- 
tained," says Innocent III. speaking of the prayer of Christ, 
" since He was always heard for His reverence : and on that 
account the faith of the Apostolic See has never failed in any 
difficulty, but has always remained entire and undefined, that 
the privilege of Peter might continue inviolate."f 

From a very early period, heretics sought to corrupt the doc- 
trine of the Roman Church, whose faith, even before St. Paul 
visited it, was celebrated throughout the whole world ; but in 
nothing has the providence of God been more manifest, than 
in its preservation, and in the energy with which the Roman 

* In Luc. xxii. f Serm. ii. in consecr. Pont Max. 



150 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



Bishops have maintained it. They can affirm with propriety 
that their weapons " are powerful through God to the destruc- 
tion of fortifications, subverting of counsels, and every height 
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing 
into captivity every understanding to the obedience of Christ, 
and having in readiness to revenge every disobedience."* In 
condemning error, the Pope is guided by the tradition of the 
Roman Church, derived from her founders, as St. Irenseus 
states, and by the tradition of all the churches, which, being 
in close communion with him, concur in their testimony. The 
faith of which he is the guardian is not his mere private sen- 
timent, much less his conjecture ; but that which the Father 
revealed, and which having been once delivered to the Saints, 
can never be lost, or adulterated, whilst the words of Christ re- 
tain their force. It is not any prevailing opinion among the 
clergy of Rome which he proposes to be believed ; but that 
doctrine which is contained in the symbols of faith, and in 
other authoritative documents, which, together with his col- 
leagues throughout the world, he has received from his prede- 
cessors. When Leo sent to Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople, 
the exposition of the mystery of the Incarnation, he only under- 
took to state "what the Catholic Church universally believes and 
teaches," as he declared in his letter to the emperor Theodo- 
sius.f The Pope receives and venerates the doctrinal defini- 
tions made in General Councils, even as he venerates the four 
Gospels,J and he claims no power to take from the original de- 
posit of revelation, or to add to it, or to remove the limits 
which the fathers have placed. It is his duty to watch over 
the entire kingdom of Christ, from the high tower on which he 
is placed as sentinel, and to sound the alarm when the enemy 
approaches. Heresy, in every shape and form, instinctively 
hates him, as Bossuet remarks, since he always strikes the first 
or final blow at every innovation. Before the middle of the 
second century, Valentine, Cerdon, and Marcion came from the 
East to Rome, and endeavored to spread there, in public and 
in private, their heresies, which were levelled at the very 
foundations of Christianity. The integrity of the Roman faith 
suffered nothing from their attempts ; so that Cerdon, despair- 

* 2 Cor. x. 4. f Ep. xxix. 

% St. Gregory M., Ep. xxv., alias xxiv, ad Joan. Cp. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



151 



ing of success, dissembled his errors, professed repentance, and 
underwent public humiliation in the Church, for the sake of ob- 
taining her communion: but his hypocrisy being laid open, he 
was again forced to, retire from the assembly of the faithful.* 
The heresies of Marcion, and his flagitious conduct, prevented 
his being restored to communion. Montanism also, as we 
have seen, was effectually opposed by the Bishops of Rome. 
Sectaries knew him to be the authorized and supreme teacher 
of the Church, and the faithful revered him as the guardian of 
revelation against every assailant. 

§ 2. Chief Mysteries. 

The divinity of Christ was triumphantly maintained in all 
ages by the successors of Peter against the subtle errors by 
which it was from time to time impugned. At the close of the 
second century, Theodotus, a currier of Byzantium, whilst per- 
secution was raging, had the weakness to deny Christ ; and 
subsequently, as if to extenuate his crime, added heresy to 
apostacy, alleging that He was but man. The zeal of Pope 
Victor led him to cut off the heresiarch from the communion 
of the Church. f Zephyrinus, who succeeded him, and who 
was an equally strenuous defender of the faith, admitted to 
communion Artemon, a bishop of the sect, but only after a pub- 
lic abjuration of the profane error. " Clothed with sackcloth, 
with ashes sprinkled on his head, and w T ith tears in his eyes 
he cast himself at the feet of Bishop Zephyrinus — and with dif- 
ficulty was received to communion."J 

Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, fell under suspicion of en- 
tertaining erroneous opinions in regard to the same mystery, 
so that, as St. Athanasius informs us, some of his brethren 
went to Rome, and accused him before his namesake, the 
Bishop of that city.§ The accused prelate, so far from denying 

* Irenaeus, 1. iii., c. iv. 

f Ibidem, n. 3. Euseb., 1. iv., c. xxviii. Theodor., 1. ii., haer. fab. 

X Ex antiqui scriptoris libro adversus Artemonis haer. apud Coustant. Epist. 
Rom. Pontif.,vol. i., col. 110. 

§ " Romam ascenderunt, ibique eum apud Dionysium ejusdem nominis Ro- 
manum praesulem accusaverunt." De Sent. Dionys. Alex., p. 345. Also de 
Syn. Nic., p. 371. Bishop Bull makes mention of " the Roman synod held 
under their Bishop Dionysius, in the cause of Dionysius of Alexandria, who 



152 GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 

the authority of the tribunal, sent a satisfactory exposition of 
his faith. Such was the acknowledged authority of the Ro- 
man Bishop in the middle of the third century. In a Roman 
synod held on this occasion, the orthodox faith was solemnly 
defined. 

In the violent and long struggle with Arianism in all its 
forms, the Holy See was the constant defender of the Nicene 
faith. To this symbol, as final and essential, reference was 
always made by the Pontiffs and their legates, by which 
means the artifices of the Arians and Semiarians were effec- 
tually defeated. They spoke of the 318 fathers of the Council 
of Nice, as of the host of faithful Abraham, by whom the ene- 
mies of the divinity of Christ were routed, and adhered to their 
definition as made under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. 
Whilst many bishops proved recreant to their trust, and either 
openly abandoned the ancient faith, or exposed it to corruption 
by the profane novelty of words, the successor of Peter, con- 
stantly rejecting every suggestion of expediency, whereby the 
divine truth might be endangered, held to the form of sound 
words delivered by the Nicene fathers, and acknowledged Je- 
sus-Christ to be God of God, light of light, true God of true 
God, consubstantial to the Father. Amidst the perplexity 
which distressed pious minds on seeing Arians intruded by 
imperial power into many episcopal sees, it was consolatory 
to hear the successor of Peter proclaiming without hesitation 
and without disguise the divine truth which the apostle learn- 
ed from the Father. Ursacius and Valens obtained commu- 
nion from Julius, on renouncing the Arian heresy, embracing 
the communion of Athanasius, and promising not to intervene, 
without permission of the Pope, at an Eastern synod, if called 
thither by their former partisans to account for their return to 
Catholic unity. They declare to him that they were encou- 
raged to renounce the sect especially " because your Holiness, 
according to your innate goodness, has vouchsafed to pardon 
our error ; "* and they submit to him a profession of faith to 
satisfy him of their orthodoxy. Afterwards they were again 

was accused by some of the Church of Pentapolis of denying the consub- 
stantiality of the Son of God." — Discourse iv., p. 189, vol. 2. Oxford Edit , 
1816. 

* Ep. v., apud Coustant, t. i., col. 405. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



153 



cut off from the Church by Damasus, on their relapse into 
heresy.* In these acts we have the clearest evidence that the 
Roman Bishop, as the highest judge and guardian of faith, ex- 
ercised unequivocal authority over other bishops. 

It has been alleged, and it was for a long time admitted 
without contradiction, that Liberius, whom Constantius drove 
into exile for his attachment to the true faith, purchased his 
liberty and regained his see by the sacrifice of his principles 
and conscience. His defence of orthodoxy subsequently, as 
well as previously to his banishment, is unquestionable, and 
he is known to have rescinded, by the authority of blessed Pe- 
ter, the acts of the Council of Rimini. The want of his sanc- 
tion is relied on by Damasus in his letter to the Bishops of II- 
lyricum as proof of the invalidity of the decrees, since 
"the Roman Bishop, whose sentiment above all should be 
regarded, did not consent to them."f I am not interested 
in denying his fall, for the weakness of a prisoner, however 
criminal, would not destroy the prerogatives of the successor 
of Peter, when acting with the freedom of authority ; but the 
account given by Theodoret, a Greek historian almost contem- 
porary, leaves no doubt on my mind that it was a fiction of the 
Arians, which was believed on mere popular rumor, and re- 
ceived without examination by subsequent ages. St. Athana- 
sius informs us that the zeal of Liberius against Arianism ex- 
cited the abettors of this heresy to make efforts to corrupt him, 
knowing the influence of his station and example : " If we 
succeed," said they, " in gaining Liberius to our opinion, we shall 
soon overcome all."J Constantius commissioned the eunuch 
Eusebius to treat with him, in order to induce him to condemn 
Athanasius ; but he was inflexible : " Such is not," he replied, 
" the tradition which we have from the fathers, and which 
they received from the blessed and great apostle Peter."§ In- 
sisting on the reception of the Nicene faith, before he would 
admit any to communion, he preferred exile to the occupancy 
of his see, if the betrayal of his duty were the condition on 
which it depended. His replies to the emperor, in the audience 
at Milan, which display the greatest intrepidity, are recorded 

* Ep. ad Afros. f Ep. iii., t. i., Coustant., col. 486. 

% Ad vitam solit. agentes. § Athanas., hist. Arian. ad monach., n. 37. 



154 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



with praise by Theodoret.* When Constantius promised that 
he should return to his see, provided he made peace with the 
Oriental bishops, the enemies of Athanasius, Liberius answer- 
ed : "I have already bidden farewell to the brethren at Rome, 
for the laws of the Church are dearer to me than my residence 
at Rome." 

That Liberius never swerved from this determination is per- 
ceived from Theodoret, who says : " The glorious champion of 
truth went therefore into Thrace, as was ordered." His re- 
turn is ascribed by him to the entreaties of the Roman matrons, 
who presented themselves in a body to Constantius, on his visit 
to Rome, in 357. The emperor wished, indeed, that Felix, 
whom he had intruded into the see, should share with Liberius 
the administration ; but the people cried out : " One God, one 
Christ, one bishop." " After these pious and just acclama- 
tions of the most Christian people, the admirable Liberius re- 
turned."-!' It is utterly improbable that Constantius should 
have promised to the people to restore Liberius, and yet made 
the execution of his promise depend on the fulfilment of a con- 
dition repugnant to the faith and principles of the people, as 
well as of the Pontiff ! It is unlikely that Theodoret should 
have known nothing of such terms, or knowing them, should 
have passed them over in silence, and heaped praise on Libe- 
rius ! Sulpicius Severus, a cotemporary writer,{ and Socra- 
tes^ ascribe his return to seditions of the Romans ; which 
is easily reconcilable with the statement of Theodoret, since 
the fear of tumult may have concurred to dispose the emperor 
to lend an ear to the supplications of the matrons. Sozomen 
says that " the Roman people ardently loved Liberius, a man in 
all respects illustrious, who bravely resisted the emperor in 
the cause of religion."|| St. Athanasius says of Liberius and 
Osius : " they preferred to suffer every calamity, rather than 
betray the truth, or our cause."^[ St. Jerom testifies that the 
Roman people, who were utterly opposed to the Arians, went 
forth to meet him on his return, and that he entered the city 
in triumph.** Nevertheless, if his writings be not interpola- 
ted, he believed the reports spread by the Arians of the criminal 

* L. ii., Hist. Eccl., c. xv., xvi. f L. ii., c. xvii. % L. ii., Hist. Sacr. 
§ L. ii., Hist., c. xxxvii. || L. iv., Hist., c. xv. Apol. ii, 

** In Chronico. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH, 



155 



condescension by which Liberius obtained his liberty ; but his 
opinion can scarcely counterbalance the inference which the 
triumphant reception of the returning Pontiff would warrant, 
or the positive testimonies of Theodoret, Socrates and Sulpitius. 
The passages in Athanasius which affirm the fall of Liberius, 
appear to be interpolations, since they do not at all harmonize 
with his assertion concerning the continued sufferings of the 
Pontiff for his cause. The fragments of Hilary, which pro- 
nounced anathema to Liberius, are evidently suppositious, 
and unworthy of the great writer to whom they have been 
ascribed.* 

Liberius, although himself free from reproach, showed le- 
nity to the bishops who, in the Council of Rimini, had been 
beguiled by the artful professions of the Arians, and had been 
coerced into acquiescence. Writing to the bishops of Italy, he 
declares that the authors of the deception should be treated 
with severity ; but that those who had been the victims of 
fraud and violence, should be allowed to retain their sees, on 
making anew the profession of the Catholic and Apostolic faith 
as declared at Nice.f 

Sozomen tells us that Eustathius of Sebaste, Silvanus of 
Tarsus, and Theophilus of Castabala, were sent as ambassadors 
from Lampsacus, Smyrna, Pamphylia, Isauria and Lycia, where 
Councils had been held, to Liberius and the bishops of the West, 
to beseech them to concert measures, and correct whatever 
needed correction in the Eastern churches, " since they retain- 
ed the true and lasting faith delivered by the apostles, and 
ought, above all others, to interest themselves in the concerns 
of religion." J Liberius, in the beginning, repelled them, as the 
known enemies of the Nicene faith ; but on their declaring 
that they had abandoned Arianism, and subscribed the Nicene 
creed, he admitted them to communion. In their address they 
style him : " Lord brother and fellow-priest." In the reply 
written by him in his own name, and in the name of the 
Western bishops, he proclaims the faith of Nice, and condemns 
with anathema the blasphemies of Rimini. § 

* See Dissertazione di Giosafatte Massari sopra la favolosa caduta di Libe- 
rio xi. nella Raccolta di Zaccaria, t. iii. 

f Ep. xiii., inter ep. Rom. Pont. Coustant., t. i., col. 450. 

X Sozomen 1. vi., c. xi. § Ep. xv. Coustant., t. i., col. 458. 



156 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



The faith and sanctity of Liberius are testified by St. Am- 
brose, who speaks of him as a man of great holiness and blessed 
memory:* without any intimation that, in any circumstance, he 
had betrayed the cause of truth. There is, then, the strongest 
reason for regarding him as the constant and faithful defender 
of the Nicene creed, which his predecessors had gloriously 
maintained. 

The influence and authority of the Bishop of Rome in con- 
troversies of faith were fully recognised in the East at this pe- 
riod. Soon afterwards the heresy of Macedonius, Bishop of 
Constantinople, who denied the divinity of the Holy Ghost, 
called for the exercise of the apostolic authority. " When this 
question was agitated," says Sozomen, " and the excitement 
daily increased, the Bishop of the city of Rome, being informed 
of it, wrote to the churches of the East, that, together with 
the Western bishops, they should confess the consubstantial 
Trinity, equal in honor and glory. All acquiesced in this, 
the controversy being terminated by the judgment of the Ro- 
man Church, and the question appeared to be at an end."f 

Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea in Syria, in the decline of 
the fourth century, denied that the Divine Word had assumed 
a human soul. Damasus, Bishop of Rome, was the first to 
condemn the error, as Sozomen testifies. Peter, the patriarch 
of Alexandria, driven from his see, who had fled to Rome for 
redress, was present at the Council in which this heresy was 
condemned. J The heretic and his disciple Timothy were both 
deposed by the judgment of the Apostolic See.§ The decree 
of faith was received and subscribed by Meletius, Bishop of 
Antioch, and by more than one hundred and fifty Oriental 
bishops, in a synod held at Antioch, in the year 379. The 
terms of their subscription are most expressive of unqualified 
adhesion to the doctrine. At the end of the decree it is said : 
" This is the end of the epistle or exposition of the Roman 
synod held under Pope Damasus, and transmitted to the East, 
with which the whole Eastern Church, having held a synod at 
Antioch, agrees, believing the same faith ; all of whom con- 
senting to the faith so explained, severally confirm it by their 



* De Virginibus, 1. iii., c. i. 

f L. vi., c. xxii. J Ibidem, vi., c. xxv. 

§ Ep. Damasij xiv., ad Orientales. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



157 



subscription." The first subscription, which is that of the pa- 
triarch himself, is in these terms : " I, Meletius, Bishop of 
Antioch, agree to all that is written, believing and thinking 
in like manner ; and if any one think otherwise, let him be 
anathema."* 

Even the civil authority looked up to the Roman See as the 
guide in all that appertained to faith. The Emperor Theodo- 
sius, about the year 380, issued a decree to this effect : " We 
wish all the nations governed by our clemency to profess the 
religion which was delivered to the Romans by the apostle 
Peter, as the religion handed down by him to the present time 
declares : and which is manifestly followed by Pope Damasus, 
and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holi- 
ness ;f namely, that according to the apostolic institution, and 
evangelical doctrine, we should believe the one Deity of the 
Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, with equal majesty and ven- 
erable Trinity."J The reason of uniting the Bishop of Alex- 
andria with the Pope, was not only the dignity of his see, but 
likewise the well-known orthodoxy of his faith, since he had 
been present at the Roman Council in which the doctrine had 
been defined. The high authority of the Pontiff in matters of 
faith suffers nothing from the concurrence and support of his 
colleagues. 

Whilst the Roman Bishop was thus regarded as the legiti- 
mate expounder of the faith, he scrupulously adhered to the 
symbol of Nice, and required its unqualified subscription from 
all whose orthodoxy was suspected. St. Basil, speaking of 
Eustathius, and his adherents, reproaches him with deviating 
from the Nicene faith, which he had subscribed at Rome, in 
order to obtain the communion of the Pope, and a copy of which 
he had brought back with him to the East : " I am surprised," 
he says, " that they do not reflect that the confession of the faith 
of Nice to which they subscribed, is preserved at Rome, and 
that with their own hands they presented to the synod of Tyana 
the book from Rome, which we still have, containing the same 
faith. They have forgotten their own harangue on that occa- 
sion, when, advancing to the middle of the assembly, they 

* Ep. iv., apud Coustant.,t. 1., col. 500. 

f Dr. Jarvis strangely mistakes him for another Peter, who had suffered 
martyrdom eighty years before ! Reply to Dr. Milner, p. 189. 

X L. L, Cod. de Fide Catholica. Vide et Sozomen., I, vii., Hist. Eccl., c. iv. 

10 



158 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



mourned over the mistake, into which they had been betrayed, 
in subscribing the document prepared by the faction of Eu- 
doxius ; wherefore, they thought on this plea for their error, 
that going to Rome, they might theee receive the faith of the 
fathers, so as by introducing a better formulary, to repair the 
evil which they had caused to the churches by their previous 
assent to error."* Rome, then, was acknowledged to be the in- 
corrupt guardian of the faith of the fathers, and those who 
drank of her pure fountain were qualified for spreading re- 
vealed truth in its integrity throughout those regions in which 
human errors had before prevailed. The Roman Bishop, acting 
as the judge of the Eastern bishops, who applied to him for the 
privileges of communion, insisted that they should give une- 
quivocal evidence of orthodoxy, by subscribing the Nicene 
creed ; and caused the document to be recorded, that it might 
serve to confound them, in case they should ever relapse into 
the errors which they had abjured. 

The authority of the Apostolic See was constantly invoked 
in all the controversies which, in the fourth and fifth centuries, 
agitated the East, about the great mysteries of the Trinity 
and Incarnation. It was manifested in the case of Vitalis, a 
priest of Antioch, who, having fallen under suspicion, repaired 
to Rome, and by using Catholic language succeeded in gaining 
the approbation of Damasus, by whom, however, he was re- 
manded with letters referring his case to the discretion of his 
bishop. Subsequently, towards the close of the year 378, in 
consequence of doubts raised concerning his sincerity, a Ro- 
man synod was held, from which a decree of faith issued, 
which Damasus sent to Paulinus, Bishop of Antioch, requiring 
Vitalis and his adherents to subscribe to it, if they wished to 
enjoy Catholic communion. f 

These are most solemn evidences that the Bishop of Rome 
was considered throughout the Eastern churches, as well as 
in the West, the chief guardian and expounder of the faith. 
From all parts recourse was had to him : every novel error 
was denounced to him : priest and prelate were alike subject 
to his judgment. He propounded the mysteries of faith in all 
their plenitude, declaring anathema to the gainsayers, and re- 
quiring assent to his doctrinal definitions as a necessary con- 



* Ep. ccxliv. Patrophilo. f Ep. v., Coustant., col. 507. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



159 



dition of communion. The Eastern patriarch, with his whole 
synod of bishops, received the pontifical decree with reve- 
rence, subscribed it without reserve, and gloried in harmo- 
nizing in faith with the successor of Peter. 

The mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word infinitely 
transcends the sublimest conceptions of the human mind, and 
was from the beginning an occasion of scandal to such as did 
not absolutely and unreservedly adhere to the simplicity of 
revelation. The apostle St. John declares, that " the Word 
was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us;" # and St. Paul says, 
that " being in the form of God, he thought it no robbery Him- 
self to be equal to God ; but debased Himself, taking the form 
of a servant, being made to the likeness of men, and in shape 
found as a man."f The Church has always believed that the 
Divine Person of the Word assumed human nature in the 
womb of the Virgin, so that the same Person is at once true 
God and true man. Nestorius ventured to sound the depth of 
this mystery, and listening to the whisperings of reason, fancied 
that the human nature of Christ had a distinct subsistence and 
personality, and was only morally united with the Divine Na- 
ture and Person, which, he said, dwelt in it as in a temple. 
His pride revolted at the thought of attributing to God, even in 
an assumed nature, birth, sufferings, and death, such as Catho- 
lics were wont to ascribe to the Divine Word in human flesh. 
This error, which impugned the very mystery of the Incarna- 
tion and destroyed the infinite value of the atonement, met 
with vehement opposition in Constantinople itself, where it was 
first broached, on the part of the laity, as well as of the clergy ; 
and the report of the scandal having reached Alexandria, St. 
Cyril, its illustrious patriarch, wrote with learning and zeal 
against the profane novelty. Feeling entire confidence that 
he was maintaining the truth originally delivered, he did not 
hesitate to hurl anathema against the various forms of this 
recent error ; yet knowing his own place in the Church of God, 
and the respect which he owed to superior authority, he sent 
his writings on this subject to Celestine, observing that he 
had not openly withdrawn from the communion of Nestorius, 
but that he awaited the instructions of the Pontiff, which he 
begged might be communicated to all the Eastern bishops : 



* John i. 14. 



f Phil. ii. 6. 



160 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



" We do not withdraw from his communion openly, until we 
communicate the facts to your Holiness. Wherefore vouch- 
safe to declare to us your judgment, and whether we should at 
all hold communion with him, or openly forbid any one to com- 
municate with him whilst he holds and teaches such senti- 
ments. It behooveth the judgment of your Holiness to be mani- 
fested by letter to the bishops most reverend and most beloved 
of God, throughout Macedonia, and to all the bishops of the 
East."* In the Roman Council, held in the year 430, St. Ce- 
lestine quoted Ambrose, Hilary and Damasus as harmonizing 
with Cyril in their expositions of the mystery, and showed that 
the error of Nestorius had been condemned by anticipation, 
by his predecessor Damasus, in the decree which he had sent 
to Paulinus of Antioch.f In his letter to Cyril, he declares 
that the putrid member must be cut off, and that Nestorius 
must not hope to enjoy his communion, if he persevere in his 
opposition to the apostolic doctrine. J 

Celestine addressed to Nestorius himself a solemn letter, 
threatening him with excommunication, unless he speedily re- 
tracted his error : " Know then," he wrote, " that this is our 
decree, that unless you preach concerning Christ our God what 
the Church of Rome, and of Alexandria, and the whole Catholic 
Church holds, and what the holy Church of the great city of 
Constantinople has steadfastly maintained until your time ; 
and unless, by an explicit confession in writing, you condemn 
this perfidious novelty, which attempts to separate what the 
holy Scripture unites, you are cast forth from the communion 
of the entire Catholic Church." At the same time he wrote to 
Cyril, directing him to act as his vicar, and use the authority 
of the Apostolic See, together with his own, and charged him 
most strictly to execute the sentence of excommunication, if 
within the time specified, Nestorius should not retract. He 
also informed John of Antioch, Juvenal of Jerusalem, Rufus of 
Thessalonica, and Flavian of Philippi, of the measures adopted 
against the new heresy. " We have separated from our com- 
munion the Bishop Nestorius, and whoever follows him in 
his preaching, until he shall condemn, by a written profession 
of faith, the perverse error which he has broached, and declare 

* Ep. Cyril, viii., ad Caelest., t. L, col. 1094, Coust. 
f Arnobis, 1. ii., de conflictu cum Serap. 
| Ep. xi., t. i, col. 1106, Coustant. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



161 



that he holds the faith which, conformably to the apostolic 
doctrine, the Roman and Alexandrine and Catholic universal* 
Church holds, and venerates, and preaches, concerning the birth 
from the Virgin, that is concerning the salvation of the human 
race." — " Know that this sentence has been passed by us — 
rather by Christ our God — concerning the said Nestorius, that 
he must within ten days from the day on which he shall be no- 
tified hereof, condemn in writing his sacrilegious preaching 
concerning the nativity of Christ, and profess that he follows 
the faith of the Roman and Alexandrine and Universal Church, 
or, being removed from the college of bishops, understand that 
his own pernicious error has caused his ruin."f 

Whoever wishes to comprehend fully what degree of au- 
thority in matters of faith the Roman Church claimed and 
exercised in the early part of the fifth century, needs only 
peruse these documents, and consider the action of the Council 
of Ephesus. When the letter of Celestine was read in that 
venerable assembly of two hundred bishops from various 
parts, exclamations burst forth on all sides : " This is a just 
judgment — to Celestine, the guardian of the faith — to Celes- 
tine, who harmonizes with the synod — to Celestine, the whole 
synod returns thanks. There is one Celestine — one Cyril — 
the faith of the synod is one — the faith of the world is one." 
No greater tribute could be paid to the Apostolic See. The 
fathers were eager to induce Nestorius to abjure his error, 
embrace the pontifical definition, and thus escape censure : 
but the heresiarch, relying on the support of John of Antioch, 
and other Eastern bishops who were personally attached to 
him, refused to obey the summons for his trial. They accord- 
ingly proceeded, although with reluctance, to the fearful duty 
enjoined on them to cut him off from communion, " constrain- 
ed so to do," say they, " by the canons and by the letter of our 
most holy father and fellow-minister, Celestine, Bishop of the 
Church of Rome."J All this took place before the arrival of 
the legates whom the Pope had despatched to preside in the 
Council with Cyril, his legate extraordinary. When they ap- 
peared, Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, inquired of them whether 
they had read over the act of deposition. Philip, the priest, 

* The latter term is used as explanatory of the former. 

| Ep. xii., apud Coustant, t. i., col. 1111. % Hard. col. conc.,t. i., p. 1462. 



162 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



one of the legates, replied that they had, and that they felt 
satisfied that all had been done in strict accordance with the 
canons ; yet he requested that the acts should be read anew 
in the Council, that in compliance with the orders received 
from Celestine, they might confirm what had been decreed ! # 
The request was granted without difficulty : and the decrees 
having been read, the legate thus began the confirmatory sen- 
tence : " It is not doubted by any one, but rather it has been 
well known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, 
the princef and head of the apostles, the pillar of faith, and 
the foundation of the Catholic Church, received from our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind, the keys 
of the kingdom : and power to bind and loose sins was given 
to him, who, down to the present time and forever, lives and 
judges in his successors. His successor, then, in regular order, 
the occupant of his place, our holy and most blessed Pope, the 
Bishop Celestine, has sent us to this holy synod to supply his 
presence." The legate proceeds to state the obstinacy of Nes- 
torius, who suffered the time prescribed by the Apostolic See 
to elapse without retracting his error ; and then, ratifying the 
act of the Council, he declares that the sentence passed against 
him, by the consent of the bishops of the East and of the West, 
is firm, and that he is cut off* from the communion of the 
Catholic Church. The other two legates spoke to the same 
effect, after whom Cyril, the patriarch of Alexandria, pro- 
posed that the proceedings of both sessions should be present- 
ed to the legates for subscription. Arcadius, one of them, ob- 
served that the proceedings of the holy synod were such that 
they could not but confirm them. The synod observed, that as 
the legates had spoken in a manner becoming them, it now re- 
mained for them to fulfil their promise, and subscribe the acts, 
which they accordingly did. Thus in all things was seen, as 
Philip the legate observed, the union of the holy members 
with their holy head, " for your blessedness," he said, address- 
ing the fathers, " is not ignorant that the blessed apostle Pe- 
ter IS THE HEAD OF ALL FAITH, OR EVEN OF THE APOSTLES."J 

* ortcoj quel? dxo^a^tfcw'Z'jj tcp tivrtq tov dytcotaT'ov Ilarta Kshsflvov. — Svvq- 

f f'iap^oj. — Actione 3, Cone. Eph., p. 1476 and 1477. Tom. i., Hard. Col. 
% xsfyoJKri t^j jii6t£oo$r[ xai Tfcov a7to$6'ku>v. — Act. 2, Col. 1472., torn. ii. 5 
Edit. ii. Head of all who profess the faith, and guide in all matters of faith. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



163 



No more solemn and splendid testimony could be given of 
the general belief at that period of the divine institution of 
the primacy. The bishops who composed this venerable as- 
sembly, with the exception of the Roman legates, were orien- 
tal and African : yet they heard, without a murmur of con- 
tradiction, the strong assertions of the legates concerning the 
prerogatives of Peter and his successors; — they submitted 
their acts to them for confirmation — and they declared them- 
selves constrained to execute the sentence of Celestine against 
Nestorius. 

Xystus III., successor of Celestine, says that what his pre- 
decessor had written on faith was sufficient, but that the Apos- 
tolic See is not remiss in urging it, since the solicitude of all 
the churches presses on it. # On the submission of John of 
Antioch, who, from personal attachment and jealousy, had for 
a time sustained Nestorius, Xystus wrote to him : " You have 
experienced by the issue of the present affair what it is to be 
of one mind with us. The blessed apostle Peter delivers in 
his successors what he learned. Who will choose to separate 
himself from his doctrine, whom the Master Himself taught 
first among the apostles ? "f 

It seems to have been the mental malady of those early 
ages, to endeavor to scan the unfathomable mystery of the 
Incarnation. Scarcely had the destructive heresy of Nestorius 
been exploded, when the monk Eutyches, in shunning it, 
plunged into another gulf not less dangerous. Nestorius had 
divided Christ from the Word, by ascribing a human person- 
ality to the human nature : Eutyches confounded the divinity 
with the humanity, by affirming that there was but one na- 
ture, as well as person, after the union. It is not easy to de- 
termine the precise character of his error ; whether he sup- 
posed the Divine nature to be merged in the nature of man, 
which is so plainly repugnant to the glorious and unchange- 
able attributes of Deity as to be scarcely imaginable : or 
whether he thought that the human nature was swallowed up 
in the Divine, and transformed, and deified ; or whether he sup- 
posed a composition of both natures, from which a distinct na- 
ture resulted. The error was most probably conceived in a con- 
fused and inconsistent manner ; but Flavian, Bishop of Con- 

* Ep. i., t. i., col. 1235. f Ep. vi., ib., col. 1260. 



164 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



stantinople, perceiving clearly that revealed truth was assail- 
ed, did not hesitate to cut off from the communion of the 
Church the author of the pernicious novelty. Eutyches had 
no just ground of appeal from the sentence. However, he 
determined on interesting the Roman Bishop in his behalf, and 
addressed Leo, as if he had lodged an appeal in form, be- 
seeching him to grant him relief from the injustice of his im- 
mediate ecclesiastical superior. He likewise solicited the sup- 
port of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna, from whom 
he received this significant reply : " We exhort you, most 
honored brother, to attend obediently in all things to whatever 
shall be written to you by the most blessed Pope of the city 
of Rome, since blessed Peter, who lives and presides in his 
own chair, imparts the truth of faith to those who seek it : 
for we, through zeal for peace and faith, cannot take cogni- 
zance of a cause concerning faith, without the consent of the 
Bishop of Rome."* Flavian, addressing the Pope, styles him : 
" Most Holy Father," and assures him that Eutyches had 
lodged no appeal, although, with a view to defeat justice, he 
declared he had done so. He solicits his approbation of the 
canonical deposition of Eutyches, and states that his sentence 
will crush the heresy, and supersede the necessity of a general 
Council, which could not be convened without great commo- 
tion in the Christian world, f Leo finally sent to Flavian a 
sublime exposition of the Catholic faith, in which he confirmed 
the condemnation already pronounced against Eutyches, and 
despatched, at the same time, as his legates, a bishop, priest, 
and deacon, with a notary, to execute the sentence,J and hold 
his place in the Council convened by Theodosius,§ who had 
solicited the authority of the Apostolic See to give effect to 
his pious desires for the peace of the Church. || 

The proceedings of the second Council convened at Ephesus 
being irregular, through the violence of Dioscorus of Alexan- 
dria, the legates of the Pope " constantly protested in the sy- 
nod that the Apostolic See would by no means receive the 
decision ;"^[ and declared that " they would not on any account 
abandon the faith which they had brought with them to the 

* Ep. xxv., Petri Chrysologi inter S. Leo. ep. 

f Ep. xxvi., inter Leonis ep. J Ep. xxviii. § Ep. xxix. 

|| Ep. xxxiii., ad Eph. Syn. secundaria. % Ep. xliv. ad Theodosium. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



165 



synod, fully stated and digested, from the throne of the most 
blessed apostle Peter."* The Pope, with all the Western 
Council of Bishops, reprobated the acts of this conventicle, f 
He exhorted the emperor to withdraw his favor from the 
heretical faction, for which purpose he also implored the em- 
press Pulcheria to use her influence, and to regard herself as if 
delegated by St. Peter himself. To the clergy and people of 
Constantinople, he addressed strenuous exhortations to cling 
to the orthodox faith, and he consoled Flavian in his suffer- 
ings. To the priests and monastic superiors, he gave instruc- 
tions to avoid the heresy of Eutyches, and hold the commu- 
nion of Flavian. Valentinian, the emperor, on coming to 
Rome, and visiting the basilic of St. Peter, being witness of 
the deep affliction caused by the proceedings of Ephesus, ad- 
dressed a letter to Theodosius, at the request of Leo, and a 
synod of bishops, exhorting him to preserve the ancient faith 
unchanged, and to show the becoming veneration for the 
Apostolic See : " We ought," he says, " with becoming devo- 
tion to defend the faith handed down by our ancestors, and 
preserve undiminished in our days the measure of proper vene- 
ration for the blessed apostle Peter, so that the most blessed 
Bishop of the city of the Romans, to whom antiquity gave 
a priesthood above all, may have scope and opportunity to 
judge about faith and priests."J This was said to induce 
Theodosius to summon a Council to be held in Italy, where 
Leo, with the bishops, might pronounce judgment according 
to the truth of faith, as Valentinian proceeds to state. Galla 
Placidia, the mother of Theodosius, at the earnest request of 
the Pontiff, wrote to her son, imploring him to " preserve the 
faith of the Catholic religion in its integrity, that, according to 
the form and definition of the Apostolic See, which we like- 
wise venerate as presiding, Flavian continuing in his priestly 
station, might be sent over for trial in the synod of the Apos- 
tolic See, in which that chief, who was made worthy to re- 
ceive the keys of heaven, has manifestly established the 
sovereign pontificate."§ She wrote also to Pulcheria to urge 
her interposition, that the proceedings at Ephesus might be 



* Ep. xlv. f Ep. xlvi., inter S. Leon., Hilarii ad Pulcheriam. 
% Ep. lv., inter Leonis ep. 
§ Ep. lvi., 



166 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



set aside, and the matter referred to the Apostolic See, " in 
which the most blessed apostle Peter, who received the keys 
of heaven, established the high priesthood."* A Council was 
convened at Chalcedon, by Marcian, successor of Theodosius, 
at the earnest solicitation of Leo ; and the letter of the Pon- 
tiff, in which the mystery was propounded, was received with 
acclamations as the genuine declaration of the ancient faith. 
On the reading of it, all cried out : " This is the faith of the 
fathers — this is the faith of the apostles. All of us have this 
belief — the orthodox believe this. Anathema to him who does 
not believe this. Peter has spoken by Leo."| In their letter 
to the Pope, they declare that " he is appointed for all, the in- 
terpreter of the voice of Peter the apostle." 

Thus did the successors of Peter maintain and develop the 
faith which he professed under divine inspiration, when he 
said : " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." The con- 
substantiality of the Son, which is implied in these words, and 
which was defended by the Nicene fathers against the sub- 
tleties of Arius, and his followers, was proclaimed by Sylves- 
ter, Julius, Liberius, and the other occupants of that see, 
conformably to the faith originally delivered. The identity 
of the Person, who was at once the man Christ, and the Son 
of God, was declared by Celestine, against the impiety of Nes- 
torius. To Leo belongs the glory of exploding the contrary 
error of Eutyches, who, confounding the natures, derogated 
from the unchangeable majesty of the Deity ; whilst faith 
recognises the reality and distinction of the divine and human 
natures, and acknowledges in each its special properties. To 
the Holy Spirit in the adorable unity of the Godhead, with 
the Father and the Son, Damasus and his synod, and with 
them the Council of Constantinople, and the whole episcopal 
college, rendered supreme homage. The mysteries, then, of 
the Trinity, Incarnation, and Redemption, which the vast 
majority even of the sects hold to be fundamental, were pro- 
pounded and maintained chiefly by the agency and authority 
of the Roman Pontiffs. 

" We find," says Mr. Palmer, " that the Roman Church was 
zealous to maintain the true faith from the earliest period, 
condemning and expelling the Gnostics, Artemonites, &c. ; 



* Ep. lviii. 



t Act. ii., t. ii., coll. Hard. col. 505. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



167 



and, during the Arian mania, it was the bulwark of the 
Catholic faith."* 

In connexion with these mysteries, the honor of the Virgin 
Mother of our Lord was vindicated. Iovinian, the enemy of 
holy virginity and of the Virgin Mother, was condemned, as 
St. Jerom testifies, by the authority of the Roman Church ;f 
and St. Augustin says that " the holy Church which is there 
(at Rome) most faithfully and strenuously opposed this mon- 
ster" (the heresy).% The apostolic decree, by which the here- 
siarch and his abettors were " by .the divine sentence, and by 
the judgment of the Roman synod," excluded from the Church, 
was sent to the bishops, in the confidence that they would re- 
ceive it with reverence. St. Ambrose and his colleagues ad- 
dressed Damasus in reply, and alleged among other things, the 
authority of the symbol of the apostles in support of the doc- 
trines defined, proving from it that Mary brought forth her Di- 
vine Son without detriment to her virginity : " Let them," he 
cried, " believe the symbol of the apostles, which the Roman 
Church always guards and preserves inviolate."§ They as- 
sure Siricius that they also condemn the heretics, conformably 
to his judgment. 

The perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother was defended 
by the same illustrious Pontiff ; and the contrary error was re- 
jected with horror, in his letter to Anysius, his Vicar in Illyri- 
cum, and to the bishops of that province. || Her high dignity 
as Mother of God had been vindicated with immense applause 
in the Council of Ephesus, when the error of Nestorius was 
condemned by the authority of Celestine. Damasus with like 
zeal proscribed the errors which at a later period assailed her 
glorious virginity. 

§ 3. Grace. 

The highest authority was ascribed to doctrinal decisions of 
the Pope by the bishops in every part of the world, who either 
besought him to declare the faith, or submitted for his confir- 

* Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., part vi., ch. iii., p. 472. 

t Lib. contra Vigilantium initio. % L. ii., Retract., c. xii. 

§ Ep. viii., Ambrosii, apud Coustant., t. i., col. 671. 

|| Ep. ix., col. 681, t. i., Coustant. 



168 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



mation the definitions which they themselves had framed 
against heresies infesting their provinces. 

The bishops of Africa had recourse to the Holy See to obtain 
the confirmation of their decrees against the subtle heresy of 
Pelagius and Celestius. A numerous Council was held at 
Carthage in the year 416, the proceedings of which were com- 
municated by a synodical letter addressed to " the most blessed 
and most honorable lord, the holy brother Pope Innocent." 
" Lord brother," say they, " we have thought it necessary to 
communicate this measure to your Holiness, that the authority 
of the Apostolic See maybe added to our humble decrees, in or- 
der to preserve many in the way of salvation, and lead back some 
from perverse error. The error and impiety, which have ma- 
ny abettors scattered abroad everywhere, should be anathema- 
tized even by the authority of the Apostolic See. For let your 
Holiness consider, and with pastoral tenderness compassionate 
us, how pestiferous and destructive to the sheep of Christ is 
the consequence of their sacrilegious disputations, namely, that 
we should not pray that we may not enter into temptation, 
which the Lord both admonished His disciples to do, and spe- 
cified in the prayer which He taught us ; or that our faith may 
not fail, as He Himself testified that he prayed for Peter the 
apostle." ..." We entertain no doubt that your Holiness, on 
examining the synodical proceedings, which are said to have 
taken place in the East, in the same cause, will pass such judg- 
ment, as to give us all cause for rejoicing in the mercy of the 
Lord. Pray for us, most blessed lord Pope."* 

Another Council held at Milevi in the same year, in which 
St. Augustin bore a conspicuous part, addressed Innocent to 
the same effect : " We think that, through the mercy of the 
Lord our God, who vouchsafes both to direct your counsels and 
hear your prayers, those who entertain such perverse and per- 
nicious opinions, will readily assent to the authority of 
your Holiness, derived from the authority of the Divine Scrip- 
tures, so that we may have occasion rather of joy at their 
correction, than of sorrow at their ruin."f Five of the Afri- 
can bishops, among whom was Augustin, wrote a special let- 
ter to Innocent, to urge the adoption of measures calculated to 
defeat the wiles of the Pelagians. " Pelagius," they say, 

* Apud Coustant, t. i., col. 867. f Ep. 176, olim. 92, p. 620. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



169 



" should be called by your Holiness to Rome, and closely ques- 
tioned as to the nature of the grace which he acknowledges, 
if indeed he acknowledge that men are aided to avoid sin, and 
live justly : or this is to be treated of with him by letter."* The 
Pontiff recognised in the reference made to his authority, no- 
thing more than faithful adherence to the examples of antiquity , 
and due respect for the rights of the chair of Peter. His de- 
cree, directed to the prelates of Carthage, begins in these 
words : " In investigating those things, which it is meet should 
be treated of with all care by priests, and especially by a true, 
and just, and Catholic Council, following the examples of an- 
cient tradition, and mindful of ecclesiastical discipline, you 
have properly maintained the vigor of our religion, not less 
now in consulting us, than before when you pronounced judg- 
ment ; since you determined that your judgment should be re- 
ferred to us, as you know what is due to the Apostolic See, be- 
cause all of us placed in this station desire to follow the apos- 
tle himself, from whom the episcopacy and the whole autho- 
rity of this order proceeded : following whom, we know how 
to condemn what is evil, and to approve what is praiseworthy. 
Observing, with priestly fidelity, the institutions of the fa- 
thers,! you do not allow them to be trodden under foot ; for 
they decreed, not by human impulse, but by divine direction, 
that whatsoever was done in provinces, however distant and 
remote, should not be deemed terminated until it had come to 
the knowledge of this see ; that the judgment, which might be 
found just, might be confirmed with its whole authority, and 
the other churches (as waters issuing from the fountain, and 
flowing through the different parts of the whole world, pure 
streams from an unpolluted source) might thence derive what 
they might prescribe."J His letter to the prelates of Milevi 
is also couched in the language of one having authority : 
" Among the various cares of the Roman Church and occupa- 
tions of the Apostolic See, in managing with faithful and heal- 
ing care the affairs of different persons, on which it is consult- 
ed, Julius, our brother and fellow-bishop, unexpectedly deliver- 
ed to me your letters, which, through earnest zeal for the faith, 



* Ep. xxviii., Constant, col. 878. 

t Of Sardica. t Ep. 181. 



170 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



you sent from the Council of Milevi." After some other re- 
marks he proceeds : " Ye do, therefore, diligently and be- 
comingly consult the secrets of the apostolic honor, (that 
honor, I mean, on which, besides those things that are with- 
out, the care of all the churches awaits,) as to what judg- 
ment is to be passed on doubtful matters, following, in sooth, 
the direction of the ancient rule, which you know, as well 
as I, has ever been observed in the whole world. But this 
I pass by, for I am sure your prudence is aware of it : for 
how could you by your actions have confirmed this, save as 
knowing that throughout all provinces answers are ever ema- 
nating as from the apostolic fountain to inquirers ? Espe- 
cially, so often as matter of faith is under inquiry, I conceive 
that all our brethren and fellow-bishops ought not to refer, 
save to Peter, that is, the source of their own name and 
honor, just as your affection hath now referred, for what 
may benefit all churches in common, throughout the whole 
world."* These documents were not considered to betray 
any undue assumption, by Augustin or his colleagues ; who, 
on the contrary, rejoiced that " the pestilence had been con- 
demned by the most manifest judgment of the Apostolic 
See:"f and maintained that further examination was unne- 
cessary : " Why," cried Augustin to the Pelagians, " do you 
still demand an investigation, which has already taken place 
before the Apostolic See V J A few months after the confirma- 
tion of the African Councils had reached Africa, addressing 
his flock, he observed : " Already have the decrees of two Coun- 
cils on this matter been sent to the Apostolic See : the rescripts 
from thence have reached us: the cause is decided: would to 
heaven the error were forever abandoned ! "§ Elsewhere he 
writes : " The authority of Catholic Councils and of the Apos- 
tolic See has most justly condemned the recent Pelagian he- 
retics."|| " All doubt," he says, " was removed by the rescript 
of Innocent ."H 

* Inter opera Aug., torn, ii., 639 B. 
f Ep. 191, olim. 104, p. 709, torn. ii. 

% Operis imperf. contra Julianum, 1. ii, c. 103, p. 993, torn. x. 
§ Serm. 131, de verbis Apost., c. 10, col. 645, torn. v. 
j| L. ii., de anima et ejus origine, c. xii., n. 17. 
L. ii., ad Bonifac, contra 2 ep. Pelag., c. iii. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



171 



Zosimus having received with favor the declaration of Ce- 
iestius, and written to the African bishops in his behalf, was 
thought to have implicitly believed the statements of this sub- 
tle heresiarch : on learning which, he wrote to assure them 
that he had not at all receded from the decrees of his prede- 
cessor. " The tradition of the fathers," says he, " has ascribed 
so great authority to the Apostolic See, that no one dares call 
its judgment in question, and it has been so maintained by the 
canons and rules ; and ecclesiastical discipline, which is still 
regulated by its laws, pays the due reverence to the name of 
Peter, from whom itself likewise is derived ; for canonical an- 
tiquity, by common consent, ascribed to this apostle such power, 
in virtue of the very promise of Christ our God, that he should 
loose bonds and bind what was loose ; and equal power was 
recognised in those who had, by his favor, inherited his see ; 
for he himself has charge of all the churches, but especially of 
this one in which he sat : nor does he suffer any privilege to 
fail, or any decree to vacillate by any breath of air, having 
established in his name a firm foundation, which cannot be 
shaken by any effort, and which no man rashly assails without 
danger to himself. Wherefore, as Peter is head of so great 
authority, and as he has confirmed the subsequent acts of all 
our predecessors, so that all laws and regulations, both human 
and divine, support the Roman Church, whose place we hold, 
as you are not ignorant, but rather know well, as priests ought 
to know, yet, although we have so great authority that no one 
can rescind our decree, we adopted no measure which we did 
not at the same time communicate to you by letter."* 

In the year 418, Zosimus published, against the Pelagi- 
an errors, a decree called Tractoria, directed " to all bishops 
universally."! It was sent to the churches of Africa, in which 
the errors had been condemned, to the Eastern churches, to the 
diocese of Egypt, to Constantinople, Thessalonica, and Jeru- 
salem. St. Augustin, quoting a passage from it concerning 
sin, observes : " In these words of the Apostolic See the Catho- 
lic faith, so ancient and well founded, is so certain and clear, 
that a Christian cannot entertain a doubt of it without impiety." J 

* Ep. xii., col. 974, Coustant, t. i. 

t Vide Aug. ad Optat., ep. cxc., n. 22. 

% Ep. cxc, n. 23. 



172 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



St. Prosper says : " A council of two hundred and fourteen 
bishops being held at Carthage, the synodical decrees were 
sent to Pope Zosimus, which being approved of, the Pelagian 
heresy was condemned throughout the whole world."* Else- 
where he says that "the judgments of the Eastern bishops, and 
the authority of the Apostolic See, and the vigilance of the 
African Councils, detected the artifices of the Pelagians."f 
Speaking of those who asserted that St. Augustin had not 
correctly defended the Catholic doctrine, he dwells " on the 
greatness of the injury, which, in the person of this one doctor, 
they inflict on all, and especially on the Pontiffs of the Apos- 
tolic See." J He repels the assertion as absurd : " According 
to your censure, the blessed Pope Innocent erred, a man most 
worthy of the See of Peter. The two hundred and fourteen 
bishops erred, who, in the letter which they prefixed to their 
decrees, thus addressed blessed Zosimus, the prelate of the Apos- 
tolic See : ' We have determined that the sentence passed 
against Pelagius and Celestine by the venerable bishop, Inno- 
cent, from the See of the most blessed apostle Peter, shall con- 
tinue in force, until they most unreservedly confess that we are 
aided in each act by the grace of God, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord, not only to know but to perform justice, so that 
without it we can have, think, say, or do nothing of true and 
sincere piety.' The holy See of Peter erred, which by the 
mouth of blessed Zosimus thus speaks to all the world : i We, 
nevertheless, through the inspiration of God — for all good is 
to be referred to its author and origin — have reported all to 
our brethren and fellow-bishops*' "§ He shows that these er- 
rors, having been once proscribed by Apostolic authority, 
should not be again discussed : " We are not again to enter in- 
to a new conflict with them {the Pelagians), nor are special 
contests to be begun as against unknown enemies : their en- 
gines were broken in pieces, and they were prostrated, in the 
companions and princes of their pride,*when Innocent, of bless- 
ed memory, struck the heads of the impious error with the 
Apostolic sword .... when Pope Zosimus, of blessed me- 
mory, added the seal of his sentence to the decrees of the 



* In Chronico. 

t Ad Ruf., p. 164, App. ad Aug., Ed. Ven., torn. x. 

% L. contra Collator em, p. 171. § Ibidem, p. 176. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



173 



African Council."* " See," he says in another place, " the rebels 
everywhere laid prostrate by the thunderbolt of the Apostolic 
decision."t He calls Rome " the throne of Peter," J "the throne 
of Apostolic power," § the " head of the world,H governing with 
religious empire nations which its arms had not subdued." 

St. Vincent of Lerins, in his celebrated Commonitorium, 
illustrates his great principle of ancient tradition, " by an in- 
stance taken from the Apostolic See, that all might see in 
meridian light- — with what energy, with what zeal, with what 
determination the blessed successors of the blessed apostles al- 
ways maintained the integrity of the religion originally handed 
down." He then mentions the resistance of Pope Stephen to 
the practice of re-baptizing, using the strong language already 
quoted.^! In the penultimate chapter, speaking of the letters of 
Julius, Bishop of Rome, which were read in the General Coun- 
cil of Ephesus, he observes : " That not only the head of the 
world, but also its sides, might give testimony for that judg- 
ment, the most blessed Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage and mar- 
tyr, was brought forward from the south ; St. Ambrose, Bishop 
of Milan, from the north." In the last chapter he adduces 
" two authoritative declarations of the Apostolic See : one, 
namely, of the holy Pope Sixtus, which venerable man (he 
says) now adorns the Roman Church ; the other of his prede- 
cessor of blessed memory, Pope Celestine. — Whoever opposes 
these Apostolic and Catholic decrees, must first insult the 
memory of St. Celestine, who decreed that novelty should 
cease to assail antiquity, and must mock the decrees of St. 
Sixtus, who judged that novelty should have no indulgence, 
because nothing should be added to antiquity."** 

In terms which beautifully exhibit the unity of the Catholic 
faith, and the efficiency of the Apostolic See in preserving it, 

* L. contra Collatorem, p. 195. 
f stratosque rebelles 

Oris Apostolici fulmine ubique vide. — Prosp. in Obtrect Aug, 
% Ergo Petri solium Romam, et Carthaginis altae 

Concilium repetant. — Carm. de Ingratis. 
§ Juris Apostolici solio. — lb. 
|| Sedes Roma Petri, quae pastoralis honoris, 

Facta caput mundi, quidquid non possidet armis, 

Religione tenet. — lb. 
^[ Supra, p. 140. 

** Comm., p. 26, Ed. Aug. Vindelic. 

11 



174 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



Paulinus, deacon of Milan, author of the Life of St. Ambrose, 
congratulated Zosimus on the measures adopted against the 
heresy of Celestius : " The true faith is never disturbed, es- 
pecially in the Apostolic Church, in which perverse teachers 
are easily discovered, and properly punished, that their evil 
conceptions and worse productions may die in them, if they 
will be corrected, and the true faith may be imparted to them, 
which the apostles taught, and the Roman Church holds, in 
union with all the teachers of the Catholic faith." * 

Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, previously to the con- 
demnation of his own error, consulted Pope Celestine, concern- 
ing Julian and others, accused of the Pelagian heresy, inquir- 
ing whether he should treat them as heretics : " We wish to 
be informed what opinion we should entertain of them, for we 
put them ofF day after day, awaiting the answer of your Holi- 
ness." f Thus the authority of the Apostolic See in deter- 
mining matters of faith, was distinctly recognised by the 
Bishop of the new Rome, at the moment when it was about to 
be employed to proscribe the heresy into which pride betrayed 
himself. 

St. Prosper relates that Pope Xystus was guarded against 
the wiles of Julian, by the advice of Leo, who was then dea- 
con, and that the disappointment of the artful heretic, who 
hoped to impose on the unsuspecting Pontiff, filled all Catho- 
lics with joy, as if then, for the first time, the Apostolic sword 
had cut off the head of the proud heresy. J 

St. Leo, understanding that the Pelagians and Celestians 
were in some places admitted to the communion of the Ca- 
tholic Church without a formal abjuration of their errors, 
wrote to the Bishop of Aquileja, commanding him to convene 
a synod, and require of them a formal retraction. " Let them 
condemn openly and explicitly the authors of the proud error, 
and detest whatever the universal Church has found worthy 
of abhorrence in their doctrine, and declare fully, openly, and 
in written documents subscribed by them, that they embrace, 
and unreservedly approve of all synodical decrees directed 
to the extirpation of this heresy, which have been confirmed 



* Ep. viii., Coustant, t. i., col. 963. 

f Ep. vii., Coustant, t. i., col. 1089. | L. contra collat., c. xxi. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



175 



by the authority of the Apostolic See." * Thus the pernicious 
errors against divine grace, which pride invented and fostered, 
to the prejudice of the redemption which we have through 
Christ, were opposed and extirpated, with untiring zeal, by the 
successors of Peter. 

§ 4. Testimonies of Fathers. 

The most learned fathers humbly addressed the Bishops of 
Rome, with child-like dependence on their teaching. St. 
Jerom addressed Damasus, imploring his direction in the con- 
troversies which agitated the East : " Since the East tears in- 
to pieces the Lord's coat, and foxes lay waste the vineyard of 
Christ, so that among broken cisterns which hold no water, it 
is difficult to understand where the. sealed fountain and the 
garden inclosed is : therefore, by me, is the chair of St. Peter to 
be consulted, and that faith which is praised by the Apostle's 
mouth, thence now seeking food for my soul where of old I re- 
ceived the robe of Christ." f He wrote to Demetriades, a 
Roman lady, to guard her against the wiles of heretics, 
exhorting her to adhere to the doctrine of the actual occupant 
of the Apostolic chair ; and at the same time bearing witness 
to the zeal with which a deceased Pope had exercised his au- 
thority for the maintenance of sound doctrine, at the com- 
mencement of the fifth century. " When you were a child," 
he says, " and the Bishop Anastasius, of holy and blessed 
memory, governed the Roman Church, a dire storm of here- 
tics from the Eastern parts, attempted to adulterate and 
destroy the simplicity of the faith, which was praised by 
the voice of the apostle. But a man, very rich in his poverty, 
and full of apostolic zeal, struck at once the direful head, and 
broke the hissing mouth of the hydra. Since I fear, and even 
have heard a report, that these poisonous plants are still in 
the ground, and bud forth anew, I think it proper charitably to 
warn you, to hold the faith of the holy Innocent, who is the 
successor and child of, the Apostolic chair, and of the holy 
man just mentioned, and not to receive any strange doctrine, 
however prudent and wise you may appear to yourself." f 
Writing to Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, he says : " Be 
it known to you, that we hold nothing more sacred than to 

* Ep. i., ad Aquil., ep. f Damaso ep. \ Ep. viii., ad Demetriadem, 



176 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



maintain the rights of Christ, and not to move the boundaries 
which the fathers have placed, but always to bear in mind that 
the Roman faith was praised by the mouth of the apostle, of 
which faith the Church of Alexandria glories in partaking." # 
Theophilus himself exhorted certain monks to anathematize 
Origen and other heretics, after his own example, and that of 
"Anastasius, Bishop of the holy Roman Church, whom the en- 
tire synod of the western bishops follows." f Thus Alex- 
andria and Antioch, as well as the Western patriarchate, fol- 
lowed the authority of the Roman Church, and gloried in her 
communion. Heretics themselves knew the Bishop of Rome 
to be highest judge in causes of faith, and used every strata- 
gem to deceive him. We have seen already the efforts of the 
Montanists, Pelagians, and many others, to gain his confi- 
dence. Sulpicius tells us that Instantius, Salvian and 
Priscillian, having been condemned for heresy in a Council 
of Saragossa, " set out for Rome to justify themselves be- 
fore Damasus, who was then Bishop of that city," but that 
they were not admitted into his presence.J 

We must, with St. Leo, ascribe the constancy in faith of 
the Roman Bishops, not to chance, or personal merit, but to 
the merciful Providence that watches over the chair of Peter : 
" From whose (Christ's) principal and eternal protection, we 
also," says he, "have received the strength of apostolic aid, 
which certainly is not withdrawn from His own work ; and 
the firmness of the foundation on which the high fabric of 
the whole Church is built, suffers nothing from the mass of the 
temple which rests on it. For the solidity of the faith, which 
was praised in the prince of the apostles, is perpetual ; and as 
that which Peter believed of Christ continues always, so that 
which Christ instituted in Peter always remains." The elo- 
quent Pontiff proves this from the passage of St. Matthew, and 
then proceeds : " The ordinance of truth therefore continues, 
and blessed Peter, persevering in the strength of the rock im- 
parted to him, does not abandon the helm of the Church at 
which he was placed. For he was thus ordained in prefer- 
ence to the others, that whilst he is styled a rock, whilst he is 
declared a foundation, whilst he is made gate-keeper of the 
kingdom of heaven, whilst he is constituted judge of what is 



* Ep. lxiii., clas. 3, an. 397. f Serm. ad quosdam monachos. % L. ii. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



177 



to be bound or loosed, with a promise that his decision 
shall be ratified in heaven, we should understand, by the 
mysterious appellations themselves, the special relation which 
he bears to Christ." # 

The agency of the successors of Peter in maintaining the 
integrity of revelation, through a long lapse of ages, has been 
acknowledged by the learned Protestant Cassaubon : " No 
one," he remarks, " who is the least versed in ecclesiasti- 
cal history, can doubt that God made use of the Holy See, 
during many ages, to preserve the doctrines of faith." f The 
same is true of all ages, so that we may at this day' repeat 
the words of Eusebius : " It is certain, that our Saviour fore- 
told that his doctrine would be preached throughout the world 
in testimony to all nations, and that the Church which was 
afterwards to be established by His power, would be invinci- 
ble and impregnable, and would never be overcome by 
death, but would be firm and immovable, as established 
and founded on a rock. He has in fact done what He fore- 
told ; for already the fame of His Gospel has filled the 
world from east to west, and reached all nations, and its 
preaching spreads daily. The Church, also, receiving her 
appellation from Him, has taken root, and being extolled 
to the skies by the discourses of holy men, shines with the 
light and splendor of orthodox faith ; nor does she flee before 
her enemies, nor yield to the very powers of death, in conse- 
quence of the few words which He uttered : 4 On this rock 
I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it.' "J 

§ 5. Vindication of Honorius. 

A dark cloud long lowered over the Holy See on account of 
the condemnation of Pope Honorius, by the sixth General 
Council, held in 680. The fathers of this assembly on reading, 
among other documents, the answer of Honorius to Sergius, 
Bishop of Constantinople, rejected it with execration, together 
with the letter of Sergius to which it replied, and another let- 
ter directed to Cyrus, then Bishop of Phasis ; and added to 

* Serm. iii., in anniversario ad Pontif. f Exercit. xv., ad annal. Baronii, 
% Be prsep. Ev., 1. i., c. iii. 



178 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



their anathemas against various heretics by name, this very 
solemn condemnation : " We have resolved also to anathema- 
tize Honorius, who was Pope of ancient Rome, since we find, 
from the letter addressed by him to Sergius, that conforming to 
his views in all things, he confirmed the impious dogmas."* 
They cried out : " To Honorius, the heretic, anathema." In 
defending the dogma of the primacy, I do not deem it neces- 
sary to prove that no one of the Roman Bishops at any time 
taught heresy, or was personally heretical ; as I insist only on 
the duty of his office to guard the faith, and on the notorious 
fact that it has been generally fulfilled : but I owe it to truth 
and justice, and to the memory of a Pontiff illustrious for zeal, 
to express my conviction that the charge of heterodoxy ad- 
vanced against him is without solid foundation. 

The letters of Honorius, which are still extant,f express the 
doctrine of the One Divine Operator, or Actor, in the two na- 
tures, which is, in substance, the Catholic doctrine, of two 
operations, each nature having its own operation. "We 
should confess," says he, " both natures in Christ united in 
natural unity, operating with the communion of the other ; 
the divine nature doing what belongs to God, and the human 
nature executing the things of the flesh, not separately, nor 
confusedly ; or teaching that the nature of God was changed 
into the man, or the human nature into that of God, but con- 
fessing the difference of natures to be entire." At the artful 
suggestion of Sergius, Honorius ordered silence to be observed 
as to the terms of one or two operations, being content with 
requiring that Christ should be held to be one Divine Operator 
in the two natures. This injunction was serviceable to the 
cause of heresy, which in the meantime spread like a cancer. 
The abuse made of the good faith of the Pontiff drew down 
censure on his memory, as if he were the abettor and ap- 
prover of an error which he did not strongly and instantly 
condemn : but I may be permitted to observe, that men are 
often judged by the results of their actions, and that the for- 
bearance of Honorius, and his anxiety to terminate the wordy 

* Act. xiii. 

t John Baptist Bartholi, Bishop of Feltri, in an Apology for Honorius, 
maintains, that the first letter to Sergius has been adulterated, and that the 
second is a forgery, of which nothing was known at Rome. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



179 



contest and preserve peace, might have gained the praise of 
consummate prudence and enlightened zeal, had not the per- 
verse ingenuity of the Monothelites turned the prohibition to 
the advantage of their cause. The orthodoxy of Honorius 
has not been without strenuous defenders. John IV., in his 
letter to the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, complained that 
Pyrrhus, Bishop of Constantinople, was abusing and pervert- 
ing the words of his predecessor. John the Abbot, the secre- 
tary employed by Honorius, testified that the implied dis- 
claimer of two wills in Christ, was intended to exclude only 
the corrupt will ; and the martyr Maximus, the declared ene- 
my of Monothelism, vindicated the faith of the Pontiff.* A 
more solemn, though less direct vindication of Honorius, is 
contained in the letter of Pope Agatho to Constantine Pogo- 
natus, read with acclamation in the sixth General Council, in 
which he asserts that his predecessors had never failed in the 
performance of the high duties of their office. " This is the 
rule of true faith, which the apostolic Church of Christ, this 
spiritual mother of your most tranquil empire, warmly held 
and defended both in prosperity and adversity, which Church, 
through the grace of Almighty God, is shown to have strayed 
at no time from the path of apostolic tradition, and to have 
never succumbed to the perverse novelties of heretics ; but 
as, from the commencement of Christian faith, she learned 
from her founders, the princes of the apostles of Christ, so 
she incorruptibly retains to the end, according to the pro- 
mise of our Lord and Saviour Himself, which He declared 
to the prince of His apostles, in the Gospel, saying : 4 Peter, 
Peter, lo ! Satan hath sought to sift you as one sifteth wheat, 
but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail : and 
thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.' Let, then, 
your serene clemency consider, that the Lord and Saviour of 
all, whose gift faith is, and who promised that the faith of 
Peter should not fail, charged him to confirm his brethren ; 
but it is notorious to all that the apostolic Pontiffs, my prede- 
cessors, have always fearlessly done so." It would seem as if 
all this was expressly directed to repel any charge likely to 
be made against Honorius, and the applause which fol- 



In ep. ad Marin, presbyt. 



180 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



lowed the reading of the letter : " Peter has spoken through 
Agatho ; " implies the assent of the Council to the state- 
ment: yet the records of the proceedings contain censures 
on the memory of Honorius, which force us to believe, that 
the fathers there assembled considered him to have been 
guilty, if not of culpable connivance, at least of an untimely 
dissimulation. Without disrespect to their authority, they 
may be supposed to have been mistaken in a matter of 
fact, merely personal, namely, the spirit and intention with 
which the letters were written. 

It is not necessary to insist more particularly on this vindi- 
cation of an individual Pontiff. I have not undertaken to 
prove, what indeed no Catholic divine asserts, that the Pope 
may not, by the artifices of heretics, be betrayed into mea- 
sures prejudicial to the faith ; neither have I deemed it ne- 
cessary to maintain what I am deeply convinced of, from the 
special prayer of Christ, which is always heard, that God 
will never suffer him to propound error in a solemn doctrinal 
definition directed to the universal Church. My object has 
been to show that the Popes, as primates of the Church by 
divine right, exercised high judicial authority in determining 
and maintaining the doctrines of faith. It is not merely in 
the eleventh century that language occurs like that which 
was addressed by St. Bernard to Innocent II. : " It is right 
that all dangers and scandals which arise in the kingdom of 
God, especially such as regard faith, should be reported to 
your apostleship : for I think it proper that the wounds in- 
flicted on faith should be healed where faith cannot fail."* 
In the fifth century Hilarus was addressed by the Bishops of 
the province of Tarragona, in language almost equally em- 
phatic. The occasion of their writing was a personal or dis- 
ciplinary affair ; but they availed themselves of it to express 
their desire to profit by the instruction of the Holy See : 
" Even were there," say they, " no necessity of ecclesiastical 
discipline, we should seek to benefit by the privilege of your 
See, since the extraordinary preaching of the most blessed 
Peter, who, after the resurrection of the Saviour, received the 
keys of the kingdom, shone forth for the illumination of all : 

* Cone. Coustant. iii., act. iii., col. 1081, Coll. Hard., t. iii. 



GUARDIANSHIP OF FAITH. 



181 



the principality of whose Vicar, as it is eminent, is to be feared 
and loved by all. Wherefore, profoundly adoring in you God, 
whom you serve without reproach, we have recourse to the 
faith which was praised by the mouth of the' apostle ; and we 
seek a reply from that source, where nothing is ordained 
erroneously, nothing presumptuously, but all with pontifical 
deliberation."* 



* Ep. Tarrac. ep.,t. ii., cone. Hard., col, 787= 



CHAPTER XII. 



GOVERNING POWER. 

§ 1. Exercise of Authority. 

We have seen abundant evidence of the most decided exer- 
cise of the primacy in the maintenance of faith. The same 
documents prove that the Bishop of Rome was regarded as the 
governor of the universal Church, regulating its administra- 
tion by laws, enforcing their observance, and occasionally mit- 
igating their rigor by opportune indulgence.* But few of the 
many rescripts which emanated from the Holy See in the early 
ages, have escaped the flames kindled by the heathen persecu- 
tors, and the ravages of time : yet they are amply sufficient to 
establish the fact that a governing power was at all times 
claimed by the Roman Bishop, as successor of St. Peter, and 
consequently by divine right, and that the claim was admitted, 
and its exercise oftentimes implored, by the bishops throughout 
the world. The administration of the Church was, neverthe- 
less, conducted on settled principles, because the power was 
given by the Lord, not for destruction, but for edification ; and 
the canons, or rules, made by the Popes, or by Councils, were 
sacredly respected, unless when the high interests of religion 
required a departure from them : " Let the rules govern us," 
cried out St. Celestine ; "let us not set aside the rules: let us 
be subject to the canons, whilst we observe what the canons 
command."f 

The divine origin of episcopal power is loudly proclaimed 

* The admirable adaptation of the pontifical enactments to the variety of 
circumstances, is acknowledged by Voltaire. Of Rome, he says : " Elle a 
su toujours temperer les loix selon les tems et selon les besoins." Surla Po- 
lice des Spectacles, vol. v. 

f Ep. ad ep. Illyric, t. i., Coustant, col. 1064. 



GOVERNING POWER. 



183 



by St. Cyprian, whose language is strictly applicable to the 
Roman Pontiff, the representative and depositary of the pleni- 
tude of episcopal authority. In order to show the crime of 
insubordination, he adduces the well-known passage of Deute- 
ronomy, in which the decree of the High Priest is enforced 
with the strongest penal sanction, and from it and other testi- 
monies concludes : " Since these and many other weighty ex- 
amples are upon record by which the priestly authority and 
power, through divine concession, are established, what think 
you of those, who, being the enemies of the priests, and rebels 
against the Catholic Church, are not awed, either by the threat 
of the Lord who forewarns, or by the avenging judgment that 
awaits them ? For from no other source have heresies arisen, 
or schisms sprung up, than from not obeying the priest of God, 
and not reflecting that there is one priest, for the time, in the 
Church, and one judge, for the time, in the place of Christ, to 
whom if all the brotherhood yielded obedience according to 
the divine instructions, no one would attempt anything against 
the college of priests : no one, after the divine judgment, after 
the suffrage of the people, after the consent of his fellow 
bishops, would make himself judge, not of the bishop, but of 
God ; no one would rend the Church of Christ by the breach of 
unity ; no one, through vanity and pride, would form a new 
heresy apart and without."* It may be contended, not with- 
out plausibility, that this is said of a local bishop, namely, of 
Cyprian himself; but it is difficult to apply language so strong 
to each individual bishop, since it is certain that on the princi- 
ple of unqualified obedience to the diocesan, the whole body of 
the clergy and people of Constantinople would have been per- 
verted, when Macedonius, or Nestorius, held that See. It is 
only in the person of the chief bishop, whom Divine Provi- 
dence wonderfully guards and directs, that the observations of 
Cyprian are fully verified. His own resistance to Stephen 
may seem to show that he did not inculcate obedience to the 
mandates of the Roman Bishop : yet as it arose from a sup- 
posed abuse of power, it is reconcilable with the advocacy of 
the general principle, that obedience should be rendered to the 
one priest and one judge. Besides, the text is painfully illus- 
trated by the history of that opposition in connexion with the 



* Ep. lix., alias liv., Iv. 



184 



GOVERNING POWER. 



rise of Donatism. Had Cyprian in that instance obeyed the 
priest of God, and reflected that there is one priest, for the 
time in the Church, and one judge, for the time, in the place of 
Christ, the scandal of dissension would have been avoided, 
> and the Donatists would have had no pretext for using his ven- 
erable name in support of their error and schism. 

We have seen that Victor and Stephen acted as persons 
having authority over the Asiatic and African prelates. The 
evidences of a similar exercise of governing power multiply 
during the fourth and fifth ages, when, from the liberty which 
the Church enjoyed, there was a development of her power, 
as occasions presented themselves for its exercise. Siricius, 
in the year 385, replying to the consultation of Himerius, 
Bishop of Tarragona, in Spain, says : " We bear the burdens 
of all who are heavily laden, or rather the blessed apostle 
Peter bears them in us, and, as we trust, in all things protects 
and defends us, the heirs of his authority." The language of 
this document implies a governing power of the most marked 
character, by which offences against the divine law are 
punished with the highest ecclesiastical penalty, and positive 
enactments are enforced by a similar sanction. Those who 
re-baptize persons baptized by heretics, are subjected to ex- 
communication. Having pointed to the authorities which con- 
demn this practice, the Pontiff observes : "You must not here- 
after depart from this rule, if you do not wish to be separated 
from our body by a synodical decree." The immediate ad- 
ministration of baptism to infants and persons in danger 
of death is enjoined under a similar penalty : " Let this rule 
be henceforth observed," he says, " by all priests who do not 
wish to be separated from the solidity of the apostolic rock, 
on which Christ built the Universal Church." It needs no 
commentary to show that this is the language of a superior. 
Incontinent clergymen, who presume to defend their excesses 
by appealing to the Mosaic code, are threatened with final 
degradation : " Let them know that they are cast down from 
all ecclesiastical honor, which they have abused, and that 
they can never again touch the sacred mysteries." The con- 
nivance of the Spanish bishops at abuses, in the promotion of 
unqualified men to sacred orders, is strongly reprobated, and 
a rule is laid down which they must follow : " By a general 
enactment we decree what hereafter must be followed, and 



GOVERNING POWER. 



185 



what must be shunned by all churches." This very remark- 
able document closes with a commendation of the bishop to 
whom it is addressed, for having reported and proposed the 
various points to the Roman Church, as to the head ; and 
with an injunction to communicate the decree itself to all 
the bishops, not only of the diocese of Tarragona, but also of 
Carthage, Bastia, Lusitania, Gallicia, and other neighboring 
provinces, that none may plead ignorance, in order to escape 
the penalties of transgression : " None of the priests of the 
Lord are at liberty to plead ignorance of the decrees of the 
Apostolic See, or the venerable definitions of the canons."* 
Although Spain was in the Western patriarchate, and the 
decree was not beyond the limits of patriarchal power, the 
terms show that Siricius relied on the apostolic authority de- 
rived from Peter. 

Similar language is observable in all the ancient pontifical 
decrees. Vitncius, Bishop of Rouen, sought to be guided by 
" the rule and authority of the Roman Church," and with this 
view addressed Innocent L, who held the chair of Peter in the 
commencement of the fifth century. This venerable Pontiff 
undertook to reply, invoking " the assistance of the holy apos- 
tle Peter, through whom the commencement of the apostolic 
office and of the episcopate was made by Christ." He directs 
ecclesiastical suits to be terminated in the respective pro- 
vinces in which they originate, and forbids recourse to extra- 
neous tribunals, " without prejudice, however, to the Roman 
Church, to which reverence is due in all causes." The greater 
causes are to be submitted to the judgment and final decision 
of the Holy See, conformably to synodical decrees, and es- 
tablished usage : " Let them be referred to the Apostolic See, 
after the episcopal judgment, as the synod decreed,! and laud- 
able custom requires."! Writing to the bishops of Macedo- 
nia, he resented as derogatory from the authority of the Holy 
See, that what it had decreed " as the head of the churches, 
should be considered as admitting of question."§ 

Zosimus, the successor of Innocent, spoke with the same 
voice of authority, and sent his orders to Gaul, Spain, Africa, 

* Apud Coustant, t. i., col. 623, et seq. 

t According to another reading, custom only is mentioned. The Council 
of Sardica may be meant, by the Synod, which treated of appeals. 
X Ibidem, col. 746. § Ep. xvii., col. 830. 



186 



GOVERNING POWER. 



and wherever the necessities of the Church demanded his in- 
terposition. Addressing Hesychius, Bishop of Salona, who 
had asked for a command of the Apostolic See, to authorize 
him to resist those who rashly sought to advance to the priest- 
hood without the necessary preparation, he states that he had 
already written to this effect to Spain and Gaul, and that not 
even Africa had been a stranger to his warnings ; and he en- 
courages this prelate to oppose such hasty proceedings : " You 
demand," he says, " a precept of the Apostolic See in harmony 
with the decrees of the fathers." — " Resist such ordinations : 
resist the pride and arrogance which ambitiously aspires to 
advance. You have in your favor the precepts of the fathers : 
you have also the authority of the Apostolic See." He charges 
Hesychius to make known the decrees to all the bishops of 
the neighboring provinces : " Whosoever," he adds, " disre- 
garding the authority of the fathers and of the Apostolic See, 
shall neglect this, must know that it shall be strictly enforced, 
so that he may rest assured he shall not retain his dignity, if 
he imagine, that what has been forbidden so repeatedly, can 
be attempted with impunity."* This is clearly the strongest 
language of authority.' St. Augustine avows in reference to 
ecclesiastical matters, that he and his colleagues were under 
the necessity of obeying the commands of the Pontiff. Writ- 
ing to Optatus, he says : " Your letter, which you sent to 
Mauritania of Csesarea, arrived when I was at Csesarea, 
whither ecclesiastical duty, enjoined on us by the venerable 
Pope Zosimus, Bishop of the Apostolic See, had led us."-)" 
Possidius says, that " the letters of the Apostolic See had com- 
pelled Augustin, with others of his fellow-bishops, to repair 
thither, in order to terminate other difficulties of the Church." J 
St. Leo wrote to Turribius, Bishop of Asturia, in Spain, to 
direct that a Council should be called, and if any bishops were 
found tainted with the errors of Manicheus, or Priscillian, he 
required that they should be at once cut off from the commu- 
nion of the Church." He had given a similar order to the 
Bishops of Tarragona, Carthage, Portugal, and Gallecia.§ 
To the Bishops of Mauritiania-Caesariensis, he wrote : " In 

* Ep. ix., col. 968. 

f Ep. cxc, alias clvi., n. 1, necessitas ecclesiastica. 
% C. xiv. § Ep. xv., ad Turribium. 



GOVERNING POWER. 



187 



consequence of the solicitude which," he says, " by divine in- 
stitution we have foe the whole Church ; " and he delegated 
Potentius, as his vicar, to inquire into the facts.* He elsewhere 
expresses the admirable economy of Divine Wisdom in the 
constitution and government of the Church : " Of the whole 
world Peter alone is chosen, and placed over those who are 
called from all nations, and over all the apostles, and all the 
fathers of the Church: so that, although there are many 
priests and many pastors in the people of God, Peter, never- 
theless, properlyf governs them all, who are also chiefly 
governed by Christ. Great and wonderful, dearly beloved, 
is the communication of His own power, which the divine 
goodness vouchsafed to him, and whatever Christ was pleased 
to communicate to the other princes — whatever He did not 
withhold from the others — He granted only through him."J 

It is manifest that a power was claimed by the Popes over 
all the churches, in virtue of which laws were enacted, which 
all were called on to obey, under penalty of ecclesiastical 
censures. Besides that these claims were made to rest on 
divine right, there is nothing to warrant us in regarding them 
as groundless, since in many instances the power was exer- 
cised at the solicitation of the parties immediately concerned, 
and in most cases there was entire acquiescence in the 
authority claimed. It would be strange that usurpation could 
have assumed such consistency, at so early a period, and have 
commanded the respect of distant prelates, naturally jealous 
of their own rights and independence. Bossuet deservedly 
rejects as rash and perverse the exception taken by some to 
the evidence derived from papal documents, and loudly de- 
clares that " he puts entire confidence in the doctrine and tra- 
dition of the Roman Pontiffs, concerning the majesty of the 
Apostolic See."§ 

A dispensing power, by which the rigor of the canons was 
mitigated, for just causes, was also exercised by the Popes 
from the earliest ages. We have seen the regulation by 
which Melchiades relaxed the severity of the ecclesiastical 
law, in order to provide for the Donatist bishops on their re- 

* Ep. xii., ad ep. Afric, prov. Maurit. Caesar. f Proprie. 

% S. Leo, Serm. iv. In anniversario die ejusdem assumpt. 
$ Defens. decl., 1. x., alias xv., c. 6. 



188 



GOVERNING POWER. 



turn to Catholic unity. Anastasius, in the commencement of 
the fifth century, was besought by the African bishops to show 
the like indulgence. They " resolved to write to their brethren 
and fellow-bishops, and especially to the Apostolic See," to 
obtain a relaxation of the rigor of the canons of a Council 
beyond the seas, so that the Donatist bishops, on coming to 
the Church, might be received with all their honors.* Thus 
the power of the Pontiff to dispense in the general laws was 
solemnly recognised. 

The Popes, although solicitous for the observance of the 
canons, were always ready to dispense in them, when the re- 
turn of the deluded children of error could be promoted by 
indulgence ; and in this exercise of clemency they wisely dis- 
regarded the censures of the over-zealous, who clamored for 
the severity of discipline. Some Spanish bishops complained 
that heretics, on abjuring their errors, were allowed to retain 
possession of their sees : to whom Innocent replied : " If any 
are pained or grieved at this, let them read how Peter, the 
apostle, after his tears, was restored to his original condition : 
let them consider that Thomas, after his doubts, retained, his 
former dignity : finally, that the great prophet David, after 
his open confession, was not deprived of the gift of prophecy."f 
Yet the Pontiff acknowledged the wisdom of the general rule, 
and traced the exceptions to necessity. When some persons 
ordained by the heretic Bonosus had been received to the 
Catholic communion, and allowed to officiate in their respec- 
tive orders, Innocent ascribed this indulgence to necessity, and 
admitted that it was not conformable to " the ancient rules 
which the Roman Church received them from the apostles, or 
apostolic men, and which she observes, and commands to be 
observed, by such as are wont to obey her." J The same in- 
dulgence continued to be shown by his successors, when cir- 
cumstances demanded it : on which account Leo allowed Do- 
natus, the Novatian Bishop of Salicina, (or Saja,) in Africa, to 
retain his See, on abjuring Novatianism, and sending a satis- 
factory profession of Catholic faith to Rome ; his former adhe- 
rents passing with him to the Catholic communion.§ Maxi- 

* Codex can. eccl. Afric, c. Ixviii. 

f Ep. iii., ad Tolet. Syn., t. i., Constant, col. 766. 

I Ep. xvi., ibid., col. 835. 

§ Ep. xii., ad episc. Afric. prov. Maurit. Csesar. 



GOVERNING POWER. 



189 



mus had been advanced from the condition of a layman to the 
bishopric among the Donatists, and was allowed to retain his 
see, on abjuring his errors.* 

In Greece, the Pope exercised the same authority, dispensing 
in the canons in extraordinary cases, where personal merit and 
the interests of the Church so required. Boniface I. appoint- 
ed Perigenes, Bishop of Corinth, who had been previously or- 
dained for the See of Patras. Some bishops resisted this ex- 
ercise of authority, probably on the ground that the translation 
of bishops was forbidden by the canons. The Pope insisted 
that the act of the Holy See could not be called in question. 
In his letters to the Bishops of Macedonia, Achaia, Thessalia, 
Epirus, old and new, Prevalis and Dacia, he says: " The soli- 
citude of the Universal Church, which he undertook, rests 

ON THE BLESSED APOSTLE PeTER, BY THE DECREE OF THE LoRD, 

since, according to the testimony of the Evangelist, he knows 
that it was founded on him : nor can his honor be free from 
solicitude, as it is certain that all depends on his deliberation. 
These things expand my mind to the provinces of the East ; 
which our solicitude makes present to us." He proceeds to 
observe : " the apostolic See, after mature examination of all 
the facts, appointed Perigenes Bishop of Corinth ; " and he 
dwells on the grievousness of the sin of resisting the authority 
of blessed Peter, " in whom," he says, " our Christ established 
the high priesthood. Whosoever rises contumeliously against 
him, cannot become an inhabitant of the kingdom of heaven. 
' To thee,' He says, 'I will give the keys of the kingdom of hea- 
ven :' into which no one shall enter without the favor of the 
gate-keeper. ' Thou art,' He says, 4 Peter, and on this rock I 
will build My Church.' Whosoever, therefore, desires to be 
considered a priest in the sight of our God, since we come to 
God through Peter, on whom, as we before mentioned, it is 
certain that the Universal Church is founded, should be meek 
and humble of heart." Boniface, understanding that a synod 
was to be held at Corinth to take into consideration the ap- 
pointment of Perigenes, strongly denied the right to canvass 
the act of the Apostolic See : " No one has ever daringly laid 
hands on the Apostolical supremacy,! whose judgment cannot 



* Ep. xii., ad episc. Afric. prov. Maurit. Caesar. f CulminL 

12 



190 



GOVERNING POWER. 



be reviewed."* This shows not only his own sense of the high 
dignity and inviolable character of the solemn acts of the Holy 
See, but also his confidence that all the precedents of antiquity 
were in harmony with his views. 

Besides the many positive acts of authority which I have 
enumerated, the answers given to the consultations of the 
bishops from every part of Christendom, prove that the Ro- 
man Bishop was a Superior to whom all looked up for gui- 
dance. St. Jerom testifies, that when at Rome, during the 
pontificate of Damasus, he was constantly engaged, by his or- 
der, in answering the synodical consultations that poured in 
from the East and the West.f The papal documents which I 
have quoted were generally drawn up in reply to such consul- 
tations. 

§ 2. Universal Patriarch. 

It has been asserted that St. Gregory the Great disclaimed 
the title and authority of (Ecumenical or Universal Bishop, be- 
cause he opposed the use of this title by John the Faster, Bishop 
of Constantinople. The term had been most justly applied to 
the Pope in various documents of the Council of Chalcedon : 
but it had not been used by Leo, or any of the predecessors of 
Gregory, because it appeared ostentatious, and they chose to 
be, as it were, on a level with their colleagues, by the exercise 
of humility, whenever there was no need of putting forward 
the authority of their office. Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexan- 
dria, having given this appellation to Gregory in this way, the 
humble Pontiff wrote to him : " If your holiness calls me Uni- 
versal Pope, you deny that you are yourself what you admit 
me to be entirely. But this God forbid ! Away with words 
which inflate vanity and wound charity."{ 

In writing to the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, 
Gregory designates the title a profane one : " You know," he 
says, " that this title was offered by the holy Council of Chal- 
cedon to the Pontiff of the Apostolic See, which, by the appoint- 
ment of God, I occupy : but none of my predecessors ever con- 
sented to use so profane a word, since if one is styled univer- 
sal patriarch, the name of patriarch is denied to the others. 

* Ep. xv., Coustant, t. i., col. 1042. 

t Ep. xci., alias xi. \ L. iv., ep. xxxvi. 



GOVERNING POWER. 



191 



But far, far away be this from a Christian mind, to attempt to 
usurp a title, by which the honor of his brethren may be in the 
slightest degree diminished !"* The term, because ambiguous 
and capable of perverse interpretation, and in fact perversely 
used by the Bishop of Constantinople, is styled profane : but 
as employed in documents of the Council of Chalcedon, it was 
just and proper, although the Popes prudently abstained from 
its use. 

It is not probable that the title was assumed by the Bishop 
of Constantinople in its worst sense, since he does not appear 
to have had any idea of discarding the superior authority of 
the Roman Bishop, or of denying the episcopal character of his 
colleagues. After the demise of John the Faster, Cyriacus, 
his successor, sent, as was usual, special messengers to report 
his ordination, and submit the acts of his synod to the Holy 
See. Gregory acknowledged that the language of the synod 
was Catholic : but he complained that the dangerous title Avas 
not abandoned. It was used, indeed, to signify amplitude, ra- 
ther than universality of jurisdiction ; for which reason even 
the Patriarch of Antioch seemed willing to dissemble,f lest, 
for a term capable of a mild explanation, the peace of the 
Christian world should be disturbed : but Gregory perceived 
in it the germ of great evils ; and justly reproached the ambi- 
tious prelate as preparing the way for future encroachments : 
" What will you say at the last judgment to Christ, the Head 
of the Universal Church, whilst you are now striving, under 
cloak of this appellation, to subject all His members to your- 
self ? Who, I pray, is held up as a model for imitation in this 
perverse term, if not he, who, despising the legions of angels, 
to whose ranks he belonged, attempted to rise to extraordinary 
distinction, that he might appear to be subject to none, and set 
over all — who even said : 4 1 will ascend into heaven, I will 
lift up my throne above the stars of heaven ? ' What are all 
your brethren, the bishops of the Universal Church, but stars 
of heaven, over whom you wish to set yourself by a haughty 
term, and whose title, compared with yours, you wish to tram- 
ple under foot ? "J He shows that even the apostles were but 
members of the Church under Christ : " Surely Peter, the apos- 

* L. v., ep. xliii. 

t L. vii., ep. xxvii. | L. iv., ep. xxxviii. 



192 



GOVERNING POWER 



tie, is the first member of the holy Universal Church : Paul, 
Andrew, John, what else are they but the heads of particular 
communities 1* and yet all are members of the Church under 
one head."t This presents the true relations of the apostles 
to the Church. Even Peter was but a member of it, under 
Christ, but the chief member, as being the first of the apostles, 
and " to him the care of the whole Church was committed." 
In this sense, only, is he styled head. 

The ambition of the Bishop of Constantinople manifested 
itself at an early period. Although Byzantium was but a 
suffragan see of Heraclea, up to the middle of the fourth cen- 
tury, the imperial dignity of the new Rome, as the city of Con- 
stantino was called, soon emboldened the Bishop to claim titles 
and privileges similar to those of the Bishop of ancient Rome. 
The fathers of Chalcedon, dazzled by the splendor of the im- 
perial throne, consented to his wishes : but Leo the Great an- 
nulled their decree as derogatory from the rights of the Patri- 
archs of Alexandria and Antioch, which had been recognised 
by the Council of Nice ; and by the authority of blessed Pe- 
ter he declared it of no effect. This severe check did not de- 
ter John the Faster from aspiring to a title, which the same 
Council had given only to the Roman Bishop, to whom he 
avowed his subjection, as Gregory testifies. Speaking of cer- 
tain Sicilian bishops, who murmured at the supposed adoption 
at Rome of some Oriental usages, at a time when the ambi- 
tion of the Bishop of Constantinople needed to be checked, ra- 
ther than fostered, he remarks : " As to what they say con- 
cerning the Church of Constantinople, who doubts that it is 
subject to the Apostolic See ? This is constantly avowed by 
the most pious emperor, and by our brother, the Bishop of that 
city."J " The Eastern Church," says Mr. Allies, " as its own 
rituals to this day declare, always acknowledged St. Peter's 
primacy, and that his primacy was inherited by the Bishop of 
Rome."§ The assumption had commenced in the pontificate of 
Pelagius, the predecessor of Gregory, who, on learning that 
John had used the title, in a synod celebrated by him at Con- 
stantinople, in the year 588, " sent letters in which, by the au- 
thority of St. Peter the apostle, he annulled the acts of that 



* Singularium plebium. 
% h. ix., ep. xii. 



f L. iv., ep. xxxviii. 

§ Church of England, p. 111. 



GOVERNING POWER. 



193 



synod."* In the same determined spirit of opposition to dan- 
gerous ambition, when Gregory understood that a synod had 
been called to meet at Constantinople, he addressed the bishops 
who were to convene there, and cautioned them against lend- 
ing themselves to the designs of the Bishop of that city : " for," 
said he, " if one, as he thinks; is universal, it follows that you 
are not bishops." He reminds them, that " without the autho- 
rity and consent of the Apostolic See, their proceedings could 
have no effect."f 

It cannot be thought for a moment, that in rejecting the title 
Gregory disclaimed any superior authority in himself, as suc- 
cessor of Peter, since he affirmed the contrary, in the most 
positive terms, and exercised, in the most marked manner, the 
power of a ruler of the whole Church. " Assuredly," says Mr. 
Allies, " if there was any Pontiff who, like St. Leo, held the 
most strong and deeply-rooted convictions as to the preroga- 
tives of the Roman See, it was St. Gregory."! His letters 
abound with admonitions, injunctions, threats and decrees, di- 
rected to bishops in every portion of the Church, all of whom 
he treated as brethren, whilst they were blameless ; if they 
erred, admonishing them as a father ; and punishing them as a 
judge when they proved delinquent. When Serenus, Bishop 
of Marseilles, indignant at the marks of veneration given to a 
sacred image, broke it in pieces, as an occasion of superstition, 
and thereby shocked the feelings of the faithful, Gregory sent 
a special messenger, and wrote to admonish him that the ex- 
cess, or abuse, should be corrected, without taking sacred 
images from the Church, in which they served as books for the 
unlearned. § On complaint being lodged of excessive lenity, 
amounting almost to connivance, used towards a licentious 
priest, by Serenus, Bishop of Marseilles, this prelate was sub- 
jected to such punishment as the Bishop of Aries, Vicar of the 
Holy See, should inflict : " nostra hoc sic vice corrigere."\\ The 
proofs of a similar exercise of power throughout Gaul, Italy, 
Sicily, and Corsica, are abundant. It was likewise felt in 
Africa. Gregory enjoined on the Council of Byzacium to inves- 
tigate the charges made against their primate, and proceed as 



* L. v., ep. xliii. 

% Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 156. 
§ L. ix., ep. cv., 1. xi., ep. xiii. 



f L. ix., ep. lxviii. 
|| L. xi., ep. lv. 



194 



GOVERNING POWER. 



justice might require.* He directed the Bishop of Numidia, 
in conjunction with Victor, the primate, and other bishops, to 
examine the complaints of the clergy against Paulinus, Bishop 
of Tegessis, and proceed according to justice ; and authorized 
Hilary, his notary, to be present at the trial, f His vigilance 
extended to Illyricum ; where he 'commissioned the Bishops of 
the first Justiniana, and of Scutari, to inquire into the alleged 
invasion of the see by the deposed Bishop Paul, and in case of 
his conviction, to confine him to a monastery, and deprive him 
of the holy communion until death.J The provinces immedi- 
ately subject to the patriarchs were not beyond the reach of 
his authority, although he used it with the moderation which 
was inspired by respect for his colleagues. Hearing that si- 
moniacal abuses existed in the Church of Alexandria, he ad- 
dressed the Bishop of that city, exhorting him to abolish them 
without delay. § He communicated to the Bishop of Jerusa- 
lem the report made to him of simoniacal practices and of 
strifes, which prevailed in that Church, urging him to remedy 
these evils. || 

The highest dignitaries addressed Gregory in terms ex- 
pressive at once of his exalted station and personal merit. 
Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch, styled him " the mouth 
of the Lord."*j[ He, in return, wrote to them affectionately, 
and whilst stating his faith, and explaining his sentiments as 
to the duties of the pastoral office, gave to all the patriarchs 
sublime instructions for their own conduct.** To Eulogius, 
Patriarch of Alexandria, who had extolled the dignity of the 
chair of Peter, Gregory replied, that Alexandria and Antioch 
participated in this honor : " Your holiness, in your letters, 
has said many flattering things concerning the chair of St. 
Peter, prince of the apostles, who, you observe, still occupies 
it through his successors. — Who does not know that the holy 
Church is strengthened by the solidity of the prince of the 
apostles, whose name denotes the firmness of his mind, being 
called Peter from the rock? To him Truth itself said: 'I 
will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' And 
again : 4 Thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren.' 



* L. xiii., ep. xxxii. 
§ L. xiii., ep. xii. 
** lb., ep. xxy. 



t lb. ep. xxviii. % L. xii., ep. xxx., xxxi. 
|| L. xi.,ep. xlvi. "jf L. i., ep. vii. 



GOVERNING POWER 



195 



And again : * Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me ? Feed My 
sheep.' "* 

The contest concerning the title of oecumenical continued 
until Phocas, who succeeded Mauritius in the empire, at the 
instance of Boniface IV., in . 607, forbade the Bishop of Con- 
stantinople to use the obnoxious term, and commanded the 
Apostolic See of Blessed Peter, " which is the head of all the 
churches," to be maintained in the enjoyment of her legitimate 
honors. The evil broke out anew in the ninth century, when 
Photius, the intruder into the patriarchate, found it his interest 
to disregard altogether the superior authority of the Roman 
Bishop. No one was better qualified to exemplify in his own 
person the results of the false principle, which measured the 
dignity of the bishop by his proximity to the throne, than the 
courtier who passed to the patriarchal chair through imperial 
favor. His revolt against the paternal rule of the succes- 
sor of Peter, who maintained the rights of Ignatius, the de- 
posed patriarch, showed that pride and ambition are opposed 
to the order which Divine Wisdom has established in the 
Church. The scandal of this schism was subsequently repaired, 
and the governing power of the Roman Pontiff fully admitted 
by the Greeks ; but the elements of discord still remained, 
to burst forth anew with increased fury, in the eleventh cen- 
tury. From that time palliatives were in vain applied, and 
after several ineffectual attempts at reunion, the evil became 
desperate in the fifteenth century, when the sword of the 
Mussulman was employed by divine justice to punish the ob- 
stinacy which no condescension could cure. Thus the vanity 
of a title, and the love of power, gradually brought on calami- 
ties, which the weak men who first assumed it did not at all 
anticipate. But wisdom is justified in her children, and the 
event has shown how vain it is to lean on the arm of the flesh, 
when the divine favor is withdrawn. The throne of the im- 
perial favorite has been overturned, whilst the chair of Peter 
remains where his hand placed it. 



* L. vii.j ep. xl, 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE HIERARCHY. 

§ 1. Patriarchal System. 

Nothing is clearer in the history of the Church, than the 
distinction of rank among her prelates. In each province one 
bishop presided, whose see was generally in the chief city, or 
metropolis, whence he was called metropolitan and archbishop. 
In some nations, one was designated primate, whose rank was 
superior to the other metropolitans. There were also, ex- 
archs, or privileged bishops, who were exempt from depen- 
dence on immediate superiors in the hierarchy, although they 
did not exercise metropolitan authority. The name of patri- 
archs was given in the fifth century, to the Bishops of Rome, 
Alexandria, and Antioch, each of whom from the commence- 
ment extended his jurisdiction over large provinces, or dioceses, 
as they were anciently called. The Roman Bishop exercised 
the power of metropolitan over the provinces styled Suburbi- 
carian, which, within Italy, extended from Liguria to the Ioni- 
an Sea, and included Sicily ; he enjoyed likewise patriarchal 
jurisdiction over the dioceses of the West, namely, all Italy, 
Illyricum, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Africa proper. The 
Bishop of Alexandria was second in rank, governing Egypt, 
Lybia and Pentapolis, and the Bishop of Antioch exercised 
similar authority throughout the East. That the Roman 
Bishop was first in rank is not seriously questioned by any 
one who is conversant with ancient documents : " The 
Bishop of Rome," says Mr. Allies, " as successor of St. Pe- 
ter, has a decided pre-eminence. It is very apparent, and 
is acknowledged in the East as well as in the West. "* 
" No student of antiquity can doubt the primacy of the 

* Church of England, &c, p. 18. 



THE HIERARCHY. 



197 



Roman See."* Describing the unquestioned constitution of 
the Catholic Church, at the time of the Council of Nicea, 
he states that " the three great Sees of Rome, Alexandria, 
and Antioch, exercised a powerful, but entirely paternal 
influence on their colleagues, that of Rome having the un- 
doubted primacy, not derived from the gift of Councils, or 
the rank of the imperial city, but from immemorial tra- 
dition as the See of Peter."f 

This writer, as well as others, fancies that he disco- 
vers in the patriarchal system a satisfactory explanation 
of the various acts of authority exercised by the Bishops 
of Rome, in the early ages. It is, however, manifest 
from the documents, that although the terms patriarch 
and archbishop, were sometimes applied to the Pope, they 
were not used as marking a restriction of power within 
local limits ; on the contrary, the epithet oecumenical J was 
sometimes added to denote . his universal authority ; and, 
although the Popes did, in fact, exercise throughout the 
provinces of the West an immediate jurisdiction and super- 
intendence, such as the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Anti- 
och had in their respective provinces, yet it was not ex- 
ercised as merely patriarchal, but as a portion of that apos- 
tolical authority which was lodged in Peter, and which 
embraced in its plenitude the whole flock of Christ. All 
antiquity shows that the Bishop of Rome, at all times, and 
everywhere, acted as successor of Peter, and pastor of the 
Universal Church. The patriarchal jurisdiction enjoyed by 
the Bishops of the other two Sees, was, in truth, originally 
derived from the will of the apostle, who delegated to his 
disciple Mark, and to Evodius, a portion of his general solici- 
tude, that they might have a more immediate supervision 
over their districts, as Innocent I. testifies ;§ whilst he re- 
served to himself the immediate government of the West, 
besides his general superintendence over the whole Church. 
The Council of Nice confirmed the rights and privileges of 
the two Sees of Alexandria and Antioch. 

The celebrated sixth canon of Nice is couched in these 

* Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 27. f Ibidem, p. 47. 

X See various documents read in the Council of Chalcedon. 

§ Ep. xxiv., ad Alex. Antioch., to Agapitus, apud Fleury, 1. xxxii., an. 536, 



198 



THE HIERARCHY. 



words : " Let the ancient customs be kept, which are in 
Egypt, Lybia, and Pentapolis, that the Bishop of Alexandria 
may have full power over all these places, as this is cus- 
tomary also with the Bishop of Rome. In like manner, also, 
in Antioch and in the other provinces, let the privileges, dig- 
nities, and authority of the churches be preserved." * The 
clause regarding the Roman Bishop, which is used as confir- 
matory of the Alexandrine usage, marks the similitude of the 
patriarchal authority as exercised by each, but does not de- 
clare that they are in all respects alike. The occasion which 1 
gave rise to this enactment shows the object which the fa- 
thers had in view. Meletius, a bishop of Egypt, having been 
deposed by St. Peter of Alexandria, formed a schism, and 
throwing off all dependence on that See, presumed to establish 
new bishoprics in that province. f " This canon was enacted," 
as Potter avows, " upon a complaint of Alexander, the 
Bishop of Alexandria, that the metropolitical rights of his 
See had been invaded by Meletius, the schismatical Bishop of 
Lycopolis in Thebais, who had taken upon him to ordain 
bishops without Alexander's consent." J The fathers con- 
firmed the usage of the Church of Alexandria by reference 
to the usage of Rome. The learned Clinch observes, that 
" from the Greek, it appears, first, that no confirmation was 
given at Nicea to the usage of the Church of Rome : that on 
the contrary, the usage of Alexandria was confirmed, because 
it had the authority of Roman usage. Secondly, it is equally 
plain, that no boundaries are either marked, or alluded to, 
within which the Roman Bishop exercised that general au- 
thority which the fathers had in view."§ 

The liberty taken by Ruffinus in his version of this canon, 
seems wholly unwarrantable, so that the investigation of its 
meaning should not be embarrassed by his interpolation. It 
becomes necessary, however, to notice it, as it has acquired 
importance by the pains which the learned have taken to re- 
concile it with well-known facts. He interprets the canon as 
meaning : " that the ancient custom be observed in Alexan- 
dria and in the city of Rome, so that the former bishop should 

* Coll. Hard., p. 432. f Apol. ii., Athanas. 

X Church Government, p. 188. See also Theodoret Hist., 1. i., c. ix. 
§ Letters on Church Government, by James Bernard Clinch, Esq., Barris- 
ter at Law, p. 271. 



THE HIERARCHY, 



199 



have care of Egypt, and he of the suburbicarian churches."* 
Great disputes have been raised as to the territory designated 
by the term suburbicarian, which some have explained of the 
district of the " praefectus urbis," extending only to the distance 
of a hundred miles around Rome ; whilst Sirmond has proved 
that it embraced the ten southern provinces of Italy, together 
with Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and other adjacent islands, all 
of which were subject to the officer styled Vicarius urbis. Mr. 
Palmer asserts that this was the original and legitimate ex- 
tent of the Roman patriarchate, from which he excludes even 
the northern provinces of Italy, as well as Gaul, Spain, Britain, 
and other nations, f The learned, however, generally admit 
that the whole West, including Africa proper, was subject to 
the patriarchal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, since, in 
fact, he exercised from the earliest period, a special superin- 
tendence over all the Western nations. It is not, indeed, our 
interest to dispute the position of this Anglican divine, for if 
the patriarchal power was confined within such narrow limits, 
the numerous instances in which the Roman Bishop interposed 
in the ecclesiastical affairs of the more distant countries, can 
only be accounted for by his authority as primate of the entire 
Church. Mr. Allies says, that " in Africa, the Gauls, Spain, II- 
lyricum, and the West generally, it was only properly exer- 
cised in matters beyond the range of the bishops and metro- 
politans.";]; This must have been in virtue of the pontifical 
power, since he follows Mr. Palmer in restricting the patri- 
archate within narrow limits. 

Boniface I., in the early part of the fifth century, did not 
hesitate to affirm, in a letter to the bishops of Thessalia, that 
the Nicene fathers had made no decree in reference to the pre- 
rogatives of the Holy See, because they were conscious that 
these flowed from a higher source than ecclesiastical legisla- 
tion, namely, the will and act of Christ Himself. " The gene- 
ral institution of the rising Church began," he says, " with the 
honor of the blessed Peter, in whom its government and high- 
est authority centre ; for from this fountain ecclesiastical dis- 
cipline has flowed through all the churches, as religion increas- 

* Hist. Eccl.,1. i., c. vi. 

t Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., part vii., p. 507. 
% Church of England Cleared. &c, p. 110. 



iOO THE HIERARCHY. 

ed. This is obvious from the laws of the Nicene synod, which 
did not attempt to enact anything in regard to him, knowing 
that nothing could be conferred above his merit, and that all 
things were granted to him by the voice of the Lord."* The 
same Pontiff describes the privileges of the Sees of Alexandria 
and Antioch as guarded by ecclesiastical enactments, for the 
purposes of unity, and with necessary dependence on the apos- 
tolic chair. 

In the great Council of Chalcedon the primacy of the Roman 
See was solemnly acknowledged,and most effectually exercised. 
" We consider," said the fathers, i i that the primacy of all and 
the chief honor, according to the canons, should be preserved 
to the most beloved of God, Archbishop of ancient Rome."f 
The details of the proceedings .show most plainly the power 
which the Pontiff exercised through his legates, so that Mr. 
Allies, speaking of this Council, says : " That (the patriarch) 
of Rome has the unquestioned primacy, and is seen at the 
centre, sustaining and animating the whole."J Leo, of whom 
he speaks, thus explains the whole economy of the Church : 
" Though priests have a like dignity, yet they have not an equal 
jurisdiction, since even amongst the most blessed apostles, as 
there was a likeness of honor, so was there a certain distinc- 
tion of power, and the election of all being equal, pre-eminence 
over the rest was given to one, from which type the distinction 
between bishops also has arisen, and it was provided by an im- 
portant arrangement, that all should not claim to themselves 
power over all, but that in every province there should be one, 
whose sentence should be considered the first among his 
brethren ; and others again, seated in the greater cities, should 
undertake a larger care, through whom the direction of the 
Universal Church should converge to the one See of Peter, 
and nothing anywhere disagree from its head."§ 

§ 2. Western Patriarchate. 

The claims of the Bishop of Rome on the obedience of the 
Western churches were not dependent on mere abstract no- 
tions of authority, since he begot them in Christ by means of 
the apostolic men whom he sent to evangelize them. In the 



* Ep. xiv. f Act xvi., col. 637. 

% The Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 53. § Ep. xiv., cap. i., xi. 



THE HIERARCHY. 



201 



beginning of the fifth century, Innocent I. affirmed, without 
fear of contradiction : It is manifest that no one founded 
churches throughout all Italy, Gaul, Spain, Africa, and Sicily, 
and the adjacent islands, except those whom the venerable 
Peter, or his successors, ordained priests."* 

The exercise of papal power over the churches of Western 
Europe is proved by the very ancient practice of sending the 
pallium, a badge of authority, to bishops of distinguished rank, 
especially to metropolitans. As early as the year 336, it was 
used by the Bishop of Ostia, as a mark of his privilege as con- 
secrator of the Bishop of Rome.f " It was, about A. D. 500, 
given by Pope Symmachus to his vicar or legate Cesarius of 
Aries." J It is spoken of as an immemorial usage by Gregory 
the Great, in whose letters abound passages recording its con- 
cession to various prelates. He granted it to Constantius. 
Bishop of Milan, a metropolitical see ; to Maximus, metropoli- 
tan of Dalmatia : to Leander of Seville, metropolitan of the 
Betic province in Spain ; to John of Corinth, metropolitan in 
the Morea ; to Andrew of Nicopolis, metropolitan in Epirus ; to 
John of the First Justiniana, or Ocrida, metropolitan of Darda- 
nia ; and to the metropolitans of Aquileja, Cagliari, Dyrra- 
chium, Crete, Philippopolis, and Salonica. He also granted it 
to Virgil of Aries. 

Gregory directed the pallium to be given to the Bishop of 
Autun, in a synod, which he ordered to be held, requiring, how- 
ever, a promise on his part to remove simoniacal abuses. § At 
the same time he assigned to this bishop the next place after 
the Bishop of Lyons, by his own indulgence and authority.|| 
When Desiderius, a bishop of some place in Gaul, sought the 
pallium, Gregory answered, that after diligent search in the 
Roman archives, he could .find no document of such a grant to 
the predecessors of the petitioner. H Sending the pallium to 
the Bishop of Palermo, he observed : " We admonish you that 
the reverence due to the Apostolic See should be disturbed by 
the presumption of no one, for the state of the members is 

* Ep. xxv., ad Decentium Eugub. f Anastas. in Marci vita. 

% Palmer says, that " with two exceptions, none of the Western bishops, 
except the Vicars of the Apostolic See, received the pallium till the time of 
Pope Zacharias, about 743." Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., part vii., ch, 
viii., p. 521. 

§ Ep. cvii. || Ep. cviii. Ep. cxii. 



202 



THE HIERARCHY. 



sound, when the head of faith suffers no injury, and the autho- 
rity of the canons continues always safe and inviolate."* 

The primacy of the Apostolic See was particularly displayed 
in the special privileges wherewith some bishops were invest- 
ed, and which were modified and changed, according as the 
interests of religion, in the altered circumstances of various 
countries, required. The See of Aries from ancient times was 
invested with extraordinary authority recognised and confirm- 
ed by Pope Zosimus : " We ordain that the Bishop of the city 
of Aries shall have, as he always had, chief authority in or- 
daining priests. Let him recall to his jurisdiction the pro- 
vinces of Narbonne the first, and Narbonne the second. Who- 
soever hereafter, in opposition to the decrees of the Apos- 
tolic See, and to the commands of our ancestors, shall presume 
to ordain any one in the above provinces, without the autho- 
rity of the metropolitan bishop, or whoever shall suffer himself 
to be unlawfully ordained, let it be known that each is deprived 
of the priesthood."f Not only are the ancient privileges of the 
See of Aries confirmed, but a most severe penalty is attached to 
their violation. Bishops who usurp the power of ordaining, in 
places subject to its jurisdiction, are suspended altogether from 
the exercise of episcopal functions. This authority, neverthe- 
less, was restricted by St. Leo, who transferred to the See of 
Vienne a portion of the province,J and it was again enlarged 
by other Popes, who constituted the Bishop of Aries Apostolic 
Legate. Guizot attempts to account for these changes, and for 
the jurisdiction subsequently granted to the Sees of Lyons and 
Sens, by the jealousy of the Roman Bishop lest a Gaulish pre- 
late with extensive authority permanently attached to his see, 
should become a rival in the Western patriarchate :§ but facts 
and documents plainly show that the papal action was in all 
cases solicited, and that it was based on the representations of 
those concerned, and the change of local relations. The learn- 
ed Clinch, with more discernment and justice, has observed : 
" The synod of Turin adjudged a primatial right to Vienne, as 
being a civil metropolis. The diocese of Aries appealed from 
this decision to Rome, and by Rome it was annulled. Leo I. 
took away from St. Hilary a portion of his diocese, and trans- 



* L. xiii., ep. xxxvii. f Ep. i., Coustant, t. i., col. 936. 

% Ep. lxvi. § Cours d'histoire moderne, t. ii., p. 24. 



THE HIERARCHY. 



203 



ferred it to Vienne. The See of Aries obtained from after- 
Popes a compensation for this loss by an apostolical delega- 
tion. The Bishop of Lyons next set up for the primacy, as 
being successor to Irenaeus. In the mean time the ancient 
civil boundaries are shifted by the introduction of foreign 
princes ; and the metropolitan power, which originally had 
meant primacy, being divided against itself, and undermined 
by time, required helps from that authority which alone re- 
mained confessedly the first."* 

The terms in which the Bishops of the province of Aries be- 
sought Leo to restore the privileges of this see, contain <k this 
undoubted testimony to the primacy of the Roman Church," as 
Mr. Allies acknowledges. " By the priest of this church, 
(Aries) it is certain that our predecessors, as well as ourselves, 
have been consecrated to the high priesthood by the gift of 
the Lord ; in which, following antiquity, the predecessors of 
your Holiness confirmed by their published letters this which 
old custom had handed down, concerning the privileges of the 
Church of Aries, (as the records of the Apostolical See doubtless 
prove ;) believing it to be full of reason and justice, that as 
through the most blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, the holy 
Roman Church holds primacy over all the churches of the 
world, so also within the Gauls the Church of Aries, which had 
been thought worthy to receive for its priest St. Trophimus, 
sent by the apostles, should claim the right of ordaining to the 
high priesthood."f 

§ 3. Apostolic Vicars. 

The delegation of authority to bishops as Vicars of the 
Apostolic See, is among the most splendid evidences of the 
primacy. Barrow acknowledges that in the fourth century 
the Popes bestowed the title of Vicars on various bishops : 
" The Popes, indeed, in the fourth century, began to confer on 
certain bishops, as occasion served, or for continuance, the title 
of their Vicar, or Lieutenant, thereby pretending to impart 
authority to them ; whereby they were enabled for perform- 
ance of divers things, which otherwise, by their own epis- 
copal or metropolitical power, they could not perform. Thus 

* Letters on Church Government, p. 245. 
t Inter opera Leonis, ep. lxv. 



204 



THE HIERARCHY. 



did Pope Celestine constitute Cyril in his room. Pope Leo 
appointed Anatolius of Constantinople. Pope Felix, Aca- 
cius of Constantinople. Pope Hormisdas, Epiphanius of Con- 
stantinople. Pope Simplicius to Zeno, Bishop of Seville : 
1 We thought it convenient that you should be held up by the 
vicariate authority of our see.' So did Siricius and his suc- 
cessors constitute the bishops of Thessalonica to be their vi- 
cars in the diocese of Illyricum. So did Pope Zosimus bestow 
a like vicarious power upon the Bishop of Aries. So to the 
Bishop of Justiniana prima in Bulgaria, (or Dardania Eu- 
rope,) the like privilege was granted (by procurement of the 
Emperor Justinian, native of that place). Afterwards tempo- 
rary or occasional Vicars were appointed (such as Austin, in 
England, Boniface in Germany)."* 

When Maximus, a philosopher, had been ordained bishop by 
some Egyptian prelates, for the See of Constantinople, Dama- 
sus addressed a letter to Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, and 
other bishops, reprobating the irregularity of his ordination, 
and directed them to proceed to the election of a bishop, 
blameless, orthodox and peaceful, in a synod to be held in the 
imperial city. He urged the observance of the ancient canons, 
which forbad a bishop to be transferred from one see to ano- 
ther, lest ambition should be fostered. f By a special letter he 
instructed Acholius, as his Vicar, to see that hereafter a Catho- 
lic bishop should be chosen, with whom peace could be perma- 
nently had. J This is the first instance of the appointment of 
an Apostolic Vicar throughout Illyricum, the reason of which 
is conjectured by Tillemont to be, that these provinces having 
been added by Gratian, in the year 379, to the Eastern empire, 
the Pope could no longer conveniently exercise a direct inspec- 
tion over them, as he was wont to do over the remainder of 
the provinces of the West. Siricius addressed Anisius, Bishop 
of the same See, and ordained that " no one should presume to 
ordain bishops in Illyricum without his consent."^ 

Innocent I. constituted Rufus, Bishop of Thessalonica, Vicar, 
to determine i( all cases that might arise throughout the churches 
of Achaia, Thessalia, Epirus old and new, Crete, Dacia, of the 

* Treatise on the Supremacy, Supp. vi., p. 733. 

f Ep. viii., Damasi ad Acholium et alios, Coustant, t. i., col. 535. 

j Ep. ix., St. Innocent speaks of Acholius as having been Vicar Apostolic. 

§ Ep. iv., Syricii, apud Coustant, t. i., col. 642. 



THE HIERARCHY. 



205 



mediterranea, and ripensis, Moesia, Dardania, and Praevalis ;* 
alleging the examples of his apostolic predecessors, who had 
given like power to Acholius and Anysius. Boniface, having 
appointed Rufus Bishop of Thessalonica, Vicar Apostolic, ad- 
dressed him as charged with the care of all the churches of 
Illyricum : " The blessed apostle Peter has entrusted to the 
Church of Thessalonica all things, in his own stead." — " You 
have for your defence the blessed apostle Peter, who can op- 
pose your enemies, according to that strength which is peculi- 
arly his own. The fisherman does not suffer the privilege 
of his See to be lost, whilst you are laboring."-]- Again he says : 
" The blessed apostle Peter, to whom the citadel of the priest- 
hood was granted by the voice of the Lord, rejoices exceed- 
ingly, when he sees that the children of inviolable peace are 
careful of the honor granted him by the Lord." J Some of the 
bishops having resisted the authority of Rufus, as Vicar Apos- 
tolic, Boniface reproaches and threatens them : " The apostle 
says : 6 What will you ? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in 
charity, and in the spirit of meekness ? ' You know that bless- 
ed Peter can do both, — treat the mild with meekness — punish 
the proud with the rod. Therefore give due honor to the head. 
Certainly if in any respect the reproof (of the Vicar) appeared 
excessive, since the Apostolic See holds its principality in order 
that it may freely receive the complaints of all, we should 
have been addressed on this point, and an embassy sent to us, 
whom you see charged with the ultimate settlement of all 
things. Let there be an end to this novel presumption. Let 
no one dare hope for what is unlawful. Let no one strive to 
set aside the regulations of our fathers, which have been so 
long in force. Let whoever considers himself a bishop, obey 
our ordinance."^ 

Xystus sustained Anastasius, Bishop of Thessalonica, in his 
privileges as Vicar Apostolic, and reminded Perigenes, Bishop 
of Corinth, to respect his authority, as he owed his own place 
to the favor of the Holy See.|| He addressed the synod of 
Thessalonica, and insisted on the maintenance of the authority 
of the Vicar.H 

* Ep. xiii., n. 2. f Coustant, t. i., coL 1035. 

% Ep. iv., col. 1019, t. i., Hard. § Ep. xiv., Coustant. 
|| Ep. vii., Coustant, t. i., col. 1262. % Ep. ix., col. 1263. 

13 



206 



THE HIERARCHY. 



St. Leo the Great, acting in accordance with the example 
of his predecessors, committed to Anastasius, Bishop of Thes- 
salonica, the authority of Vicar over all the churches of Illy- 
ricum, assigning as the reason of this delegation his anxiety 
to discharge his duty as general pastor. " Since," he says, 
" our solicitude extends to all the churches, as the Lord re- 
quires of us, who entrusted to the most blessed apostle Peter 
the primacy of the apostolic dignity, as a reward of his faith, 
establishing the Universal Church in the solidity of the found- 
ation itself, we communicate this necessary solicitude to those 
who are united with us by the affection of brotherhood. Fol- 
lowing, therefore, the example of those whose memory we ve- 
nerate, we have constituted our brother and fellow-bishop An- 
astasius our Vicar, and enjoined on him to see from his watch- 
tower that nothing unlawful be attempted by any one ; and 
we admonish you, beloved, to obey him in all that regards ec- 
clesiastical discipline : for your obedience will not be rendered 
to him, but to us, who are known to have entrusted him with 
this office in those provinces, in consequence of our solici- 
tude."* In this letter he decreed that the disputes of bishops 
should be terminated by his Vicar, to whom likewise he re- 
served the consecration of all metropolitans throughout the 
province, directing, at the same time, that no bishop should be 
consecrated by any metropolitan without his knowledge and 
authority. All these documents plainly prove that the power 
delegated was founded on the divine commission to Peter, for 
the government of the whole Church. In his letter to the Vi- 
car, he expressly says that he appoints him to relieve the care 
" which we, in virtue of our headship," by divine institution 
owe to all churches, f 

The term " Vicar Apostolic " in modern usage denotes a 
bishop whose title is not derived from the see or territory com- 
mitted to his charge, which he governs rather as the delegate 
of the Holy See, during the good pleasure of the Pontiff. Ma- 
ny believe the episcopal tenure to be universally of this pre- 
carious character, so that all bishops are but as tenants at will, 
or officers of the Pope, to be dismissed when he judges proper. 
This, however, is not the sentiment of the Pontiff himself, who 
treats all titular bishops as his colleagues, and claims no right 

* Ep. v., ad episcopos metrop. per Illyricum. f Ep. x. 



THE HIERARCHY. 



207 



to remove them but for canonical causes, unless in extraordi- 
nary emergencies in which the highest interests of religion 
are at stake. The most ardent supporters of the papal privi- 
leges give us no other views. " The power of the Pope," says 
Ballerini, " although supreme, is not the only authority left by 
Christ in His Church, since bishops are called to share in his 
solicitude ; and although in the fulness of his power he can 
regulate and limit the exercise and use of their faculties, as 
he may deem it expedient for the good of the Church, never- 
theless he cannot monopolize and assume to himself all their 
faculties, or make them as his mere vicars, or regard all the 
dioceses as his own : whence it follows that not the Pope alone 
throughout the whole Church, but the bishops likewise in their 
respective dioceses have ordinary jurisdiction, by divine right."* 
Bolgeni also denies that bishops are mere vicars of the Pope.f 
Mr. Allies then mistakes, when he states that they are merely 
his delegates. J Their dependence on the Apostolic See is with- 
out detriment to their rank in the Church, as is evident from 
the reservation made in the oath of consecration : salvo meo 
ordine. They can address the actual Pontiff in the words which 
St. Augustin addressed to Boniface : " To sit on our watch- 
towers and guard the flock belongs in common to all of us who 
have episcopal functions, although the hill on which you stand 
is more conspicuous than the rest."§ In truth their submission 
to the chief bishop is the great guarantee of their true inde- 
pendence, which they sacrifice to regal or popular caprice, 
when they attempt to set themselves free from the authority 
which Christ has placed over pastors and people. "In better 
times," as Mr. Allies ingenuously avows, " doubtless every 
bishop felt his hand strengthened in his particular diocese, and 
had an additional security against the infraction of his rights 
by his brethren, when he was able to throw himself back 
on the unbiassed and impartial authority of the Bishop of 
Rome."|| 

§ 4. Papal Relations to Patriarchs. 
As the exercise of pontifical power throughout the Western 

* Vindicias auct. pontif., contra Just. Febron., c. iii., n. 12. 

f L'Episcopato, vol. i., art. iii. 

% Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 173. 

§ Tom. x., 412 B., apud AUies, p. 76. 

|| Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 101. 



208 



THE HIERARCHY. 



patriarchate, although constantly referred by the Popes them- 
selves to the commission given to Peter, may not appear to all 
conclusive evidence of supremacy, it is important to consider 
the relations of the Bishops of Rome to the Patriarchs of Alex- 
andria and Antioch. These governed their respective provinces 
with full power, s^cva-ia : not needing to have recourse to the 
Pope for the appointment of bishops, or other acts of ordinary 
jurisdiction, but notifying him of their own consecration, and 
seeking recognition by letters of communion. This system 
having been established from the earliest period, and having 
been ratified by the acts of the Popes, was altogether sufficient 
to convey jurisdiction from whatsoever source it originally 
flowed. When their own authority was violently assailed, or 
when faith was endangered, the patriarchs had recourse to 
the Pontiff. Athanasius fled to Rome to obtain pontifical aid 
against his persecutors, and was recommended to the confi- 
dence of his flock by letters of Pope Julius, in which he con- 
gratulated them on the success of their prayers for the restora- 
tion of their bishop. Peter found aid in the same paternal 
authority, and returned to the same see in 378, " bringing with 
him a letter of the Bishop Damasus, in which he testified his 
faith in the consubstantiality of the Son, and approved of his 
ordination."* John Talaja, in the following century, sought 
the papal confirmation to occupy the same see, as Simplicius 
affirms in his letter to Acacius, " that the succession of a Ca- 
tholic bishop to the ministry of the deceased, might derive 
strength from the assent of the apostolic authority."! 

The dependence of the patriarchates on the Roman Bishop 
is further evinced from the pontifical interposition in some ex- 
traordinary cases. Leo, writing to Dioscorus, Bishop of Alex- 
andria, to correct some usages which were not in harmony 
with the traditions of the Roman Church, observed, that the 
disciple of St. Peter had not certainly differed from the teach- 
ing of his master : " for," says he, "since the most blessed Peter 
received the apostolic principality from the Lord, and the Ro- 
man Church perseveres in his traditions, we cannot believe 
that his holy disciple Mark, who first governed the Church of 
Alexandria, framed differently the decrees which have come 
down from him by tradition." J 

* Socrat., 1. iv., Hist., c. xxxvii. f Ep. vii. 

I Ep. ix., ad Dioscorum ep. Alex. 



THE HIERARCHY. 



209 



The energy with which this holy Pontiff exercised his office 
throughout the whole Church, is candidly avowed by Mr. Al- 
lies : " In truth we behold St. Leo set on a watch-tower, and 
directing his gaze over the whole Church : over his own West 
more especially, but over the East too, if need be. He can 
judge Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople, as well as Eu- 
gubium, and is as ready too. Wherever canons are broken, 
ancient custom disregarded, encroachments attempted, where 
bishops are neglectful, or metropolitans tyrannical, where 
heresy is imputed to patriarchs, in short, wherever a stone in 
the whole sacred building is being loosened, or threatens to 
fall, there he is at hand to repair and restore, to warn, to pro- 
tect, or to punish." * 

The Church of Antioch was avowedly dependent on the 
See of Peter, as is clear from the testimony of Juvenal, Bishop 
of Jerusalem, in the Council of Antioch : " It is customary, 
conformably with apostolic order and tradition, that the See 
of Antioch should be directed by the See of the great Rome, 
and should be judged by it."f 

When the Bishop of Constantinople acquired importance, 
and claimed patriarchal authority, it was usual to communi- 
cate his ordination to the Holy See by a formal embassy. Nec- 
tarius being chosen Bishop of Constantinople, ambassadors 
were despatched by the Emperor Theodosius to the Roman 
Bishop, with a view to obtain his assent and confirmation, as 
Boniface testifies : " Theodosius, a prince whose clemency is 
in sweet remembrance, considering that the ordination of 
Nectarius was not assured, because it was not known to us, 
sending courtiers from his side with bishops, asked, in due 
form, a letter of communion to be addressed to him by this 
Holy See, to strengthen his priesthood." J This custom was 
considered obligatory ; so that Hormisdas required Epiphani- 
us, Bishop of that See, to comply with it, not being content 
with a mere letter of information. § A splendid embassy was 
sent to Rome, in the year 398, with Acacius of Beroea at its 
head, to notify the election of St. John Chrysostom. || Inno- 

* Church of England Cleared, &c., p. 101. 

t Cone. Antioch., act iv., t. iv., Cone. Edit., Mansi, col. 1311. 

X Vide Bonifacii I., ep. xiv., t. i., Coustant. 

§ Hormisdse, cp. lxviii., alias cxi. || Pallad. de vita Chrysost, C. iv. 



210 



THE HIERARCHY. 



cent I. refused to acknowledge Atticus, Bishop of Constanti- 
nople, until he should send ambassadors to communicate his 
election, and prove that he had fulfilled the prescribed condi- 
tions of peace. # Cyriacus, Bishop of that city, sent ambassa- 
dors to Gregory the Great, with the proceedings of the synod, 
after his ordination. 

The authority of the Pope became particularly manifest, 
when the patriarchates, in consequence of the incursion of 
heretics, required his interposition. Boniface states, " that 
the greatest Oriental churches, in great affairs which needed 
greater discussion, always consulted the Roman See, and when 
the case required it, sought its aid." f St. Basil, who was 
metropolitan of Cassarea, writing to Meletius, Patriarch of An- 
tioch, communicated to him the design which he had formed 
of sending to Rome, in order to obtain a visit from some of 
the Italian prelates, to settle the disturbances of the East. 
The bearer of his letter was a deacon named Dorothee : " This 
resolution has been formed," he says, " that this same brother 
of ours, Dorothee, should go to Rome, and press some to visit 
us from Italy." J He wrote in like manner to St. Athanasius, 
Bishop of Alexandria : " It has appeared to us advisable to 
send to the Bishop of Rome, that he may look to our affairs; 
and to suggest to him, that if it be difficult to despatch some 
persons thence by a general and synodical decree, he himself, 
by his authority, may act in the case, and choose persons able 
to bear the journey, and endowed with such meekness and 
firmness of character as would be likely to recall the perverse 
to correct sentiments." § Addressing Damasus, Bishop of 
Rome, he styles him : " Most honored Father ! " and states 
that the hope that harmony and truth would prevail, hav- 
ing hitherto proved deceptive, he has recourse to him, that he 
may succor the churches of the East, as Dionysius, Bishop of 
Rome, had formerly done : " Being disappointed in our expec- 
tations, and unable to bear our evils any longer, we have re- 
solved to write, and urge you to come to our relief, and to 
send to us some men harmonizing in sentiment ; who may re- 
concile the dissentient, or restore the churches of God to har- 
mony, or, at least, make more manifest to you the authors of 

* Ep. xxii., apud Coustant, t. i., col. 848. 

t Ep. xvi., apud Coustant, t. i., col. 1043. J Ep. lxviii. $ Ep. lxix. 



THE HIERARCHY. 



211 



disturbance, that you may hereafter plainly know with whom 
it is proper for you to hold communion. We ask nothing new, 
but what has been usual of old with other blessed men belov- 
ed of God, especially among yourselves ; for we know by tra- 
dition, being instructed by our fathers whom we have ques- 
tioned, and by documents which are still preserved amongst 
us, that Dionysius, the most blessed bishop, who was illustri- 
ous among you for the integrity of his faith and his other 
virtues, visited, by letter, our Church of Caesarea, and sent per- 
sons to ransom the brethren from captivity. Our affairs are 
at present in a more difficult and gloomy situation, and need 
greater care : for we now grieve over, not the razing of our 
earthly dwellings, but the destruction of our churches — we 
witness not corporal servitude, but the bondage of our souls, 
which is daily effected by the abettors of heresy, who have the 
sway. Wherefore, unless you hasten to our relief, in a little 
while you will scarcely find to whom you may reach the hand, 
since all will be brought under the power of heresy." * The 
language of this address is that of affectionate appeal to supe- 
rior authority. Damasus was addressed not merely as a bro- 
ther, sound in faith, and possessing wide influence, but as one 
clothed with power, whose messengers might gain to truth 
and peace the rebellious children of error. Were personal 
influence alone regarded, Basil might be expected to ac- 
complish much more than the envoys of the Roman Bishop ; 
but his high authority would be respected by those who 
would not yield to the persuasive eloquence of the metro- 
politan of Caesarea, or to the commands of the Patriarch of 
Antioch. 

Thus we have seen that the power of the Bishop of Rome 
was implored by the patriarchs themselves, and was effectual- 
ly exercised in their behalf, whenever any emergency required 
his interposition. Mr. Allies admits this, and asks : " when 
the ship of the Church was in distress, whom should we expect 
to see at the rudder but St. Peter ? "f That he did not ordi- 
narily interfere in the affairs of their patriarchates, arose from 
a love of order, which prompted him to leave to his colleagues 
the care of that which was entrusted to their respective 
charge, and to confine himself to a general superintendence. 



Ep. Ixx. t Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 25. 



212 



THE HIERARCHY. 



The occasions of his interference were, however, sufficiently 
numerous to mark clearly his right, and the grounds on which 
he always relied were such as leave no question as to the 
divine source of his authority. He was first among the 
patriarchs, their superior and judge, not by courtesy, or 
conventional arrangement, but in virtue of the command of 
Christ to Peter : " Feed My lambs : " " Feed My sheep : " 
" Confirm thy brethren." 

Mr. Allies with great candor says : " I am fully prepared to 
admit that the primacy of the Roman See, even among the 
patriarchs, was a real thing, not a mere title of honor. The 
power of the first see was really exerted in difficult conjunc- 
tures to keep the whole body together. I am quite aware 
that the Bishop of Rome could do what the Bishop of Alexan- 
dria, or of Antioch, or of Constantinople, or of Jerusalem, could 
not do. Even merely as standing at the head of the whole 
West, he counterbalanced all the four." * 



* Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 120. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 



The office of bishop is perpetual, a sacred character, which 
can never be effaced, being impressed in ordination : yet the 
exercise of the power may be for just causes inhibited, and the 
actual governing authority, or jurisdiction, may be entirely 
taken away. The eminence of the dignity, which is no less 
than that of successor of the apostles, does not secure him 
who is adorned with it from the danger of error, should 
he listen to the whisperings of pride, rather than guard 
that which is committed to his trust, or of vice, if he be 
neglectful of the approaches of temptation. For this reason 
the apostle addressed strong exhortations to Timothy and Ti- 
tus, to fulfil the duties of their sacred office, and instructed 
them in what circumstances they should receive accusations 
against the bishops* subject to their authority. The power of 
suspending bishops from the exercise of their functions, or 
of removing them altogether from the ministry, is among the 
most awful and sublime functions of the higher ecclesiastical 
dignitaries. In the early ages it was exercised by metropoli- 
tans, or other superiors, especially in Councils, where the col- 
lection of bishops judged and deposed the delinquents. Terri- 
torial limits were not always accurately observed, especially 
where one of the patriarchs intervened, whose high rank gave 
a coloring of authority even to acts performed beyond the 
province in which he presided, f Thus Flacillus, Bishop of 
Antioch, presided at a Council in which Athanasius of Alex- 
andria was condemned ; and Theophilus of Alexandria under- 

* The Greek term, rtpsapvtepos, was then applied to bishops. 

t Cyril acknowledged, that were he himself, or an Egyptian Synod, to 
pronounce sentence on Nestorius, he might be charged with going beyond 
the limits of his authority. 



214 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 



took to try and depose Chrysostom of Constantinople, who, 
however, protested against his authority. The power was at 
all times exercised by the Bishop of Rome, in a manner to 
leave no room for doubt, that he claimed authority to judge 
and punish, by censure, all bishops, even the patriarchs them- 
selves, and that he grounded his claims on his office as suc- 
cessor of Peter. These claims were put forward with entire 
confidence, as admitting of no question ; and the exercise of 
the power was implored by bishops occupying the highest 
sees, and submitted to by those against whom it was exer- 
cised, or if resisted, resistance was ineffectual. St. Leo, in 
his instructions to his Vicar in Illyricum, directed that cases of 
difficulty and importance should be reserved to his own judg- 
ment ; # whence Bianchi maintains f that the deposition of 
bishops was from that time reserved to the Holy See. The 
reservation was well established in the ninth century, since 
the Council of Troyes implored Nicholas I. to provide for the 
dignity of the episcopal office, by restraining metropolitans, 
who sometimes attempted to depose bishops without the apos- 
tolic judgment, contrary to the decrees of his predecessors. J 
The deposition of Rothade, Bishop of Soissons, by Hincmar, 
Archbishop of Rheims, gave occasion to this complaint ; and 
Nicholas rescinded the act as unjust, and irregular, it having 
been done without his knowledge. 

Potter records an early instance of the deposition of bishops 
by the Roman Pontiff : " Three bishops, who ordained Nova- 
tian, the schismatic bishop, were deposed, and others ordained 
to succeed them, by Cornelius, Bishop of Rome ; whose pro- 
ceedings in this matter were generally approved all over the 
world." § Cornelius acted as of his own authority, in proceed- 
ing to this measure, which met with universal approbation ; 
the crime of the schismatical ordination being deemed by all 
most enormous, as tending to destroy, or render doubtful, the 
essential authority of the Church. 

Not long afterwards another occasion arose for a similar 
exercise of power, no longer in the neighborhood of Rome, 
but over a bishop of an illustrious see in Gaul. Marcian, 

* Ep. vi., ad Anastasium Thessalonic. 
f Dell esterior politia, t. v., p. 1, p. 478. 
J Ep. synod. Tricassin., ad Nicolaum I. 
§ On Church Government, p. 392. 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 



215 



metropolitan of Aries, had openly espoused the cause of No- 
vatian, in consequence of which, the neighboring metropolitan 
of Lyons, with his suffragans, implored the Roman Pontiff to 
depose him from the episcopacy. This measure having been 
delayed, they wrote repeatedly to Cyprian, praying him to use 
his influence for the speedy correction of the scandal ; who 
accordingly addressed a letter to Pope Stephen, urging him 
to prompt and decisive action : " Faustinus, our colleague at 
Lyons, has repeatedly written to us, dearest brother, stating 
what I know has been reported to you also, both by him and 
by our other fellow-bishops in the same province, that Mar- 
cian of Aries has joined Novatian, and has departed from 
the unity of the Catholic Church, and the harmony of our 
body, and of the priests. — Wherefore it behooves you to 
write an explicit letter* to our fellow-bishops in Gaul, that 
they may no longer suffer Marcian, an obstinate and proud 
man, and an enemy to Divine Mercy and to the salvation of 
the brethren, to insult our body, since being an abettor of 
Novatian, and imitating his obstinacy, he has withdrawn from 
our communion, whilst Novatian himself, whom he follows, 
was formerly excommunicated and judged to be an enemy of 
the Church ; and when he had sent ambassadors to us in Africa, 
wishing to be admitted to our communion, he received for an- 
swer from a numerous Council of bishops, who were assembled, 
that he was without, and that none of us could communicate 
with him, since, whilst Cornelius was ordained bishop in the 
Catholic Church, by the judgment of God, and choice of the 
clergy and people, he was endeavoring to raise a profane al- 
tar, and to erect an adulterous see, and to offer sacrilegious 
sacrifices in opposition to the true priest. — Let your letters be 
directed throughout the province, and to the people of Aries, 
whereby, Marcian, being removed, f another may be substi- 
tuted in his place, and the flock of Christ may be gathered to- 
gether, which, hitherto being scattered and wounded by him, 
is despised." J It has in vain been attempted to explain this 

* Plenissimas litteras. 

t Abstento Marciano. The Latin term was used of the deposition of an 
emperor, after he had been adjudged to be an enemy of the empire. Cyprian 
uses it in this letter of Novatian, who was removed from communion of the 
Church, and condemned as her enemy. 

% Ep. lxvii., alias lxviii. 



216 DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 

call for the interposition of Stephen, by reference to the fact 
that Novatianism had sprung up at Rome, on occasion of the 
opposition to the election of his predecessor. This was no 
reason why the bishops of Gaul should not, of themselves, 
proceed to the deposition of the heretical metropolitan, if 
Stephen were not his lawful and proper judge. They were 
not wanting in zeal against the heresy, since they had already 
addressed Stephen and Cyprian, urging the former to come to 
their aid, and begging the influence of the latter for the 
speedy success of their application. Of Stephen it was plain- 
ly expected that he should remove the perverse teacher ; and 
to him Cyprian looked for official information of the appoint- 
ment of his successor. 

Mr. Allies observes : " This alone shows how great the au- 
thority of the Bishop of Rome in such an emergency was." 
By this qualification he endeavors to lessen its weight, and he 
afterwards says : " It bears witness, not to the present papal, 
but to the patriarchal system."* Yet, with Palmer, he asserts 
that Gaul was not comprised within the Roman patriarchate. 
Palmer, taking Du Pin for his guide, says that Cyprian only 
requested Stephen to write to the people of Aries, and the Gal- 
lican bishops to appoint another bishop in his stead :f but it is 
manifest that the authority of the Bishop of Rome was soli- 
cited for the deposition of Marcian, abstento Marciano. Were 
personal influence and persuasion only sought, there would 
have been no need that the Bishops of the neighboring pro- 
vince of Lyons should have written so pressingly to Carthage 
and to Rome, merely to obtain a letter of advice from the 
Bishop of Rome to the Bishops and faithful of the province of 
Aries. 

The power of deposing bishops was recognised in the Pope 
by a Roman Council, held in the year 378, and by the Empe- 
rors Gratian and Valentinian. In addressing the emperors, 
the fathers state that " numberless bishops from various parts 
of Italy had assembled at the sublime sanctuary of the Apos- 
tolic See." They compliment the emperors as " observing the 
precept of the holy apostles," inasmuch as, having banished 
Ursinus, the leader of the schism, and separated his partisans 

* Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 30, 31. 

| Treatise on the Church, vol. ii., part vii., p. 489. 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS, 



21T 



from his society, they had decreed " that the Roman Bishop 
should try the other priests of the various churches, so that the 
Pontiff of religion with his colleagues should judge of religion ; 
and the priesthood should not suffer in its honor, by subjecting 
the priest to the judgment of a secular judge, as might other- 
wise happen." They complain that some bishops, his parti- 
sans, still endeavor to persuade others " not to submit to the 
judgment of the Roman priest ;" and mentioning several in- 
stances of deposed bishops who retain possession of their sees, 
they ask the aid of the civil authority to give effect to the ec- 
clesiastical sentence. They pray that a bishop, who declines 
to appear for trial, may be compelled by the governor, or his 
Vicar, to repair to Rome ; or if he be far distant, to appear be- 
fore the metropolitan ; or if the metropolitan be accused, that 
he be compelled to come to Rome without delay, or to appear 
before judges appointed by the Roman Bishop. In cases in 
which the metropolitan, or other judge, is open to suspicion, they 
wish an appeal to lie to the Bishop of Rome, or to a Council 
of fifteen neighboring bishops.* The emperors granted their 
petition, giving civil force to the sentence of the Roman Bishop, 
passed with the advice of five or seven bishops. These docu- 
ments clearly prove the eminence of the Bishop of Rome, as 
occupant of the Apostolic See, and his right to judge, whether 
alone, or surrounded by his colleagues. The reasons of the 
qualifications prescribed in the imperial edict was, that the sen- 
tence should be passed solemnly, maturely, and advisedly : and 
although it had ecclesiastical force independently of them, it 
was in the power of the emperors to limit the civil sanction to 
sentences thus pronounced. Mosheim, and Maclaine, his trans- 
lator, refer to these measures as imprudent concessions of the 
emperors and bishops, which prepared the way for Roman su- 
premacy :J but it is easy to see, on inspection of the documents 
themselves, that the belief that Rome was " the sublime sanc- 
tuary of the Apostolic See," preceded, and gave rise to these 
decrees. Those who in the investigation of ecclesiastical his- 
tory set out with the persuasion that the papacy is an inven- 
tion of later ages, engrafted on the original system, can only 
discover in the many documents of an early date, " steps by 
which the Roman Bishops mounted afterwards to the summit 

* Ep. vi., apud Coustant, t. i., col. 528. f Ep. vii., ibidem, eol. 532. 
t Fourth Century, part ii., ch, ii., p. 108. 



218 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 



of ecclesiastical power ;" whereas they obviously show the 
exercise of high authority, derived from a divine source, and 
recognised alike by bishops and by emperors. 

So fully acknowledged was the power of the Pope to depose 
bishops, when false to the faith, or recreant to their duty, that 
the Eastern prelates solicited Damasus to depose Timothy, a 
bishop infected with the heresy of Apollinaris, and received for 
reply that the sentence of deposition had already been passed 
by the Apostolic See against the master and the disciple, in a 
solemn Council at Rome, at which the Bishop of Alexandria 
was present : " Why do you ask of me anew," said the Pontiff, 
"to depose Timothy, who, together with Apollinaris, was al- 
ready condemned here by the judgment of the Apostolic See, 
in presence even of Peter, Bishop of the city of Alexandria ? " # 
The same zealous Pontiff, in a Roman Synod, deposed Ursacius 
and Valens, for which act he received the thanks of St. Atha- 
nasius, who urged him to proceed to the deposition of Auxen- 
tius, the Arian occupant of the See of Milan. Tuentius and 
Ursus having received episcopal consecration unlawfully, Zo- 
simus addressed a letter to the Bishops of Africa, Gaul, and 
Spain, in which he says : " Dearest brethren, we have sent let- 
ters to your holiness, and throughout the whole world, where- 
soever and in whatsoever part of the earth the fountain of 
the Catholic religion flows, that you may not think that Tuen- 
tius and Ursus are to be received in any ecclesiastical rank, in 
the communion of the Church, from which they are wholly cut 
off by anathema."! Thus did he most effectually depose them 
from the episcopate. 

Celestine directed all bishops holding the errors of Nesto- 
rius to be separated from the episcopal body, and ordered John 
of Antioch to be notified, " that unless he hold our sentiments 
and condemn in writing the new blasphemy, the Church would 
take such measures in his regard as the interests of faith might 
demand."J 

The papal legates in the Council of Chalcedon deposed Di- 
oscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, in the name of Leo : " The 
most holy and blessed Leo, Archbishop of great and elder Rome, 
by us, and by the present holy synod, together with the most 
blessed apostle Peter, who is the rock and ground of the 

* Ep. xiv., t. i., col. 514, Constant. f Ep. iv. 

I Ep. xxii., ad Syn. Ephes., apud Coustant, t. i., col. 1202. 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 



219 



Church, and the foundation of the right faith, has stript him of 
the dignity of the episcopate."* " The Apostolic See," as Ge- 
lasius testifies, " by its own authority condemned Dioscorus, 
the prelate of the second see." 

Ephesus was an autocephalous see, which Bassianus, with 
the consent of Proclus, of Constantinople, occupied, to the pre- 
judice of that independence which it derived from the apos- 
tles Paul and John, its founders. The clergy and people see- 
ing that the intruder cared only to secure his own honor by 
compromising the privileges of the Church, accused him to Pope 
Leo, and having exposed the unworthy means by which he 
had usurped the see, obtained a sentence of deposition, which 
was acknowledged and recorded in the great Council of Chal- 
cedon : " The most holy Roman Archbishop Leo deposed him, 
because he was made bishop contrary to the canons." Sixtus 
III. deposed Polychronius, Bishop of Jerusalem. Peter Mon- 
gus, Bishop of Alexandria, was excommunicated by Simplicius. 
Peter Cnapheus, Bishop of Antioch, having fallen into vari- 
ous heresies, especially that of Eutyches, was admonished by 
Felix III., and finally stricken with anathema, and deposed in 
this solemn form : " Having written two letters to you, I now 
proceed to pass sentence against you : yea, rather, he (sen- 
tences you) who is the head of all pastoral sees, the glorious 
Peter, truly the greatest of the apostles."f Acacius, Bishop of 
Constantinople, who was charged with the execution of this 
sentence, and of several others, afterwards himself fell under 
suspicion, and was summoned to answer in the assembly of 
bishops to St. Peter, to whom, in the person of Felix, the ac- 
cusation was made. J He was finally cut off utterly from the 
Catholic Church. " Being separated from the honor of the 
priesthood, and from Catholic communion, and likewise from 
the number of the faithful, know that the name and office of 
the priestly ministry are taken from you, being condemned by 
the judgment of the Holy Ghost and by apostolic authority."^ 
Mosheim relates the deposition of Acacius in these terms : 
" The Roman Pontiff, Felix II., having assembled an Italian 
Council, composed of sixty-seven bishops, condemned and de- 
posed Acacius, and excluded him from the communion of the 
Church, as a perfidious enemy to the truth." The opposition 
of the Greeks to the execution of this sentence he takes as a 



* Act iii. f Hard., t. ii., col. 826. % lb., col. 829. $ lb., col. 832. 



220 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 



denial of the right of the Roman See to pronounce censure on 
the Bishop of the imperial city ; but he admits that Rome 
finally succeeded in exacting its acceptance. " Hence," he 
says, " arose a new schism and a new contest, which were 
carried on with great violence, until the following century, 
when the obstinacy and perseverance of the Latins triumphed 
over the opposition of the Oriental Christians, and brought 
about an agreement, in consequence of which, the names of 
Acacius and Fullo were erased from the diptychs, and sacred 
registers, and then branded with perpetual infamy."* This is 
no equivocal proof that the right of the Roman Bishops to de- 
pose even the Bishop of the imperial city, although protected 
and supported by the emperor, was incontrovertible. It is not 
true that the Orientals generally resisted the sentence. Aca- 
cius, indeed, remained obstinate, but died in a few years. Fla- 
vita, his successor, sought the communion of the Holy See, 
which was denied him, until he should remove the suspicions 
which fell on his faith, and cancel from the diptychs the name 
of Acacius. Euphemius, who soon succeeded him, a man of 
sound faith, pleaded in vain that the memory of Acacius might 
be spared ; alleging, among other things, that he should not 
have been condemned by a single bishop. Gelasius, who then 
occupied the chair of St. Peter, answered, that Acacius had 
been condemned in virtue of the Council of Chalcedon, since he 
professed heresies which it had proscribed ; but independently 
of this fact, the Pontiff relied on the supreme authority of the 
Holy See, whose judgments are final. He showed that Aca- 
cius had, previously to his own condemnation, accepted and ex- 
ecuted a commission of the Holy See for the deposition of 
several bishops : " Timothy of Alexandria, and Peter of An- 
tioch, Peter, Paul and John, and others, not one only, but se- 
veral bearing the priestly title, were cast down by the sole au- 
thority of the Apostolic See. Of this fact Acacius himself is 
witness, since he was charged with the execution of the sen- 
tence. In this manner, then, falling into company with those 
who have been condemned, Acacius is condemned."! By em- 
bracing their errors, he provoked the like condemnation. A 
most splendid instance of the exercise of the papal power oc- 
curred on occasion of the visit of Pope Agapetus to Constan- 
tinople, at the solicitation of Theodatus, king of the Goths, 



• Mosheim, Church History, p. 2, ch. v., § xxi. f Ep. xiii. 



DEPOSITION OF BISHOPS. 



221 



with a view to persuade the Emperor Justinian to abandon 
his intended invasion of Italy. His failure in the direct object 
of his visit made the acts of spiritual authority which he ex- 
ercised the more remarkable. Anthimus, Bishop of Trebizond, 
through the favor of the empress, had recently occupied the 
See of Constantinople, left vacant by the death of Epiphanius. 
His hostility to the Council of Chalcedon, although artfully dis- 
sembled, was known to Agapetus, who could not be prevailed 
on by the emperor or empress, by threats or promises, to admit 
the heretical usurper to his presence. He offered, indeed, to 
allow him to return to his original see, on his unequivocal ac- 
ceptance of the Council ; but in no case would he suffer him 
to occupy the see of the imperial city. After some delay, in 
order to give him time for submission and repentance, the Pope 
convened a Council of bishops at Constantinople, summoned 
him to appear for trial, pronounced sentence of deposition 
against him, absent by default, and consecrated with his own 
hands Mennas in his stead. # 

The Emperor of Constantinople solicited Gregory the Great 
to proceed in the case of the primate of Byzacium; but he 
hesitated to come to a final decision, not feeling assured of the 
sincerity of the accused in his professions of submission : " As 
to his saying that he is subject to the Apostolic See, I know 
not what bishop is not subject to it, when any fault is found 
in bishops. But when delinquency does not require it, all of 
us are equal, on the principle of humility ."f 

It is unnecessary to give further examples, since those al- 
ready adduced plainly show that the Roman Bishop, as the 
superior of all other bishops, judged and deposed them, either 
in solemn Council, or, with less solemnity, by his own act. No 
prelate, however elevated, was exempt from his judgment, 
and, in case of conviction, from his sentence. Alexandria, An- 
tioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople, enjoyed privileges ; but re- 
mained subject to the supervision, correction, and censure of 
Rome. The imperial favor availed nothing against the pre- 
rogative of Peter. His successor, however, did not always 
appear in a menacing attitude. He could heal, as well as 
strike ; and was often appealed to, that the wounds inflicted 
by others might be remedied by his indulgence and authority 



* See Fleury, Hist., 1. xxxii., a. 536. 

14 



| Ep. lix. 



CHAPTER XV, 



APPEALS. 

§ 1. Ancient Examples. 

In all governments there is a tribunal of appeal, whose judg- 
ment is final. By it the sentences of the inferior judges are 
strengthened and confirmed, when found conformable to jus- 
tice and law ; or reversed and corrected, if otherwise. The 
existence of such a tribunal is an evidence of its supremacy : 
the judge must be the sovereign, or his representative, or the 
depositary of supreme juridical power, which he, in fact, exer- 
cises. The usage of appealing to the Bishop of Rome from the 
judgment and censures of bishops and Councils, in every part 
of the Church, is of the highest antiquity, and shows that he 
was believed to possess a power superior to all other 
bishops. 

St. Epiphanius relates of Marcion, that having been excom- 
municated for a grievous sin against chastity, by his father, 
the Bishop of Sinope,* he fled to Rome, about the year 141, 
and sought to be restored to communion, but that the chief 
clergy, (the see being vacant,) declared, that they could not 
grant him relief, without the consent of his father, with whom 
they were united in faith and friendship.! The journey and 
the application show that he recognised the superior power of 
Rome ; and the refusal which he met with, is an evidence, not 

* In the early ages, men who had been married but once, (" the husband of 
one wife,") were often assumed to the ministry; it being difficult, especially 
on the first preaching of the Gospel, to find persons of mature age who had 
not been married. The actual discipline of the Church still allows such per- 
sons to be ordained after the death of their wives, or on a mutual and volun- 
tary profession of continency. 

t Hser. xiii., n. ii. 



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223 



of want of authority in the Roman Church, but of discretion 
and moderation in its exercise. The case may not be strictly 
styled an appeal, since it does not appear that the injustice of 
the sentence was complained of ; but it implies that even a just 
sentence of a distant prelate could be remitted by the wise 
discretion of the Bishop of Rome. 

It is evident from the testimony of St. Cyprian, that in his time 
the Bishop of Rome took upon himself to restore bishops deposed 
by the Council of their province. Basilides, Bishop of Asturia, 
in Spain, who had been deposed on the charge of idolatry, and 
other crimes, having repaired to Rome to plead his cause, suc- 
ceeded in inducing Pope Stephen to restore him. In the inter- 
val another bishop, Sabinus, had been consecrated and placed 
in the see. St. Cyprian, being consulted by the Spanish pre- 
lates, held that Sabinus should not be dispossessed, since the 
decree for the reinstatement of Basilides had been surrepti- 
tiously obtained. " His ordination," says Cyprian, " which has 
been regularly performed, cannot be rescinded, merely because 
Basilides, after the discovery of his crimes, and his own public 
confession of guilt, going to Rome, deceived Stephen our col- 
league, who is far distant from the scene of action, and was 
unacquainted with the proceedings, and with the facts which 
were suppressed : desiring to be reinstated unjustly in the epis- 
copate, from which he had been justly deposed. This only 
shows that the crimes of Basilides are not cancelled, but ag- 
gravated by the additional guilt of fraud and circumvention, 
together with his former sins. Nor is he who has been impos- 
ed on unadvisedly, so blamable as he who fraudulently prac- 
tised on his credulity, is deserving of execration. If Basilides 
has succeeded in deceiving men, he cannnot deceive God, since 
it is written : ' God is not mocked.' "* St. Cyprian opposed 
the execution of the sentence, not on the ground of an utter 
want of authority, which would have been the obvious method 
if the power of Stephen admitted of any question ; but be- 
cause he had proceeded on false information. The right to 
reverse the sentence, if the merits of the case admitted it, not 
being denied, must be taken as acknowledged. In maintain- 
ing the incapacity of Basilides, and also of Martialis, another 
deposed bishop, to hold the bishopric, St. Cyprian relies on the 



* Ep. lxviii. 



224 



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law regarding persons guilty of idolatry, made by Cornelius, 
the predecessor of Stephen : " In vain," says he, " such men 
attempt to usurp the bishopric, whilst it is manifest that they 
should neither preside over the Church of Christ, nor offer sa- 
crifice to God, especially since long ago, in union with us and 
with all bishops, without exception, throughout the whole 
world, even Cornelius our colleague, a pacific and just priest, 
and through the special favor of God, honored with martyr- 
dom, decreed that such men might indeed be admitted to do 
penance, but are precluded from clerical ordination and priestly 
honor."* This reference to the decree of Cornelius, to which 
the whole episcopate had assented, shows the eminence of his 
authority. 

In a letter to Cornelius, St. Cyprian makes mention of Pri- 
vatus, a heretic, in the province of Lambesita, who, many 
years previously, had been' condemned by a Council of ninety 
bishops. He had in vain attempted to have his cause re- 
opened in a Council of Carthage. Disappointed in this effort, 
he had recourse to Rome, and during the vacancy of the see, 
urged the Roman clergy to reverse the sentence. The letter 
of Cyprian put them on their guard ; but independently of it, 
they judged unfavorably of the case. In reply, they commend 
the conduct of Cyprian in giving them, as was customary, full 
information, that they might better discharge the duty incum- 
bent on them in behalf of all the churches : " As to what con- 
cerns Privatus of Lambesita, you have, as usual, been careful 
to call our attention to the case, as one of moment : for it be- 
hooves us all to keep guard for the body of the entire Church, 
whose members are spread throughout the various provinces. 
But even before the receipt of your letter, the frauds of the 
crafty man did not escape our notice. For, when one of his 
impious band, Futurus, an ardent partisan of Privatus, had 
come, endeavoring to procure letters from us, his true charac- 
ter was not unperceived by us, on which account he did not 
receive the letter which he desired."f Thus it is clear that 
Privatus appealed to the Roman Church, whose authority was 
exercised by the clergy, during the vacancy of the see, who 
refused redress, because they knew him to be undeserving of 
it. St. Cyprian, nevertheless, complained of the appeals of 



* Ep. lxviii. 



j Ep. xxx. 



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225 



the minor clergy as derogatory from the judgment of their 
bishops and of the Councils by which they had been con- 
demned, and as tending to relax discipline and defeat justice 
He also most justly complained of the artifices of heretics, 
whereby they sought to abuse the good faith of the Bishop of 
Rome. Fortunatus had been ordained Bishop in Carthage, in 
opposition to Cyprian, and had despatched to Rome an abettor 
of his schism, the priest Felicissimus, to pre-occupy the ears of 
the Pope. Cyprian expresses his surprise at the audacity of 
the schismatics. " What cause," he asks, " had they to go 
(to Rome) and announce the false bishop who was created in 
opposition to the other bishops ? For either they are satisfied 
with what they have done, and persevere in their wickedness, 
or, if they are sorry, and abandon it, they know whither they 
may return. For since it has been determined by us all, and 
it is equally just and proper, that the cause of every one should 
be tried where the crime was committed, and since to each of 
the pastors a portion of the flock is given, which each one 
may rule and govern, being to render an account of his con- 
duct to the Lord, it is certainly meet, that those over whom we 
preside, should not run about, nor, with crafty and deceitful 
temerity, destroy the unity and harmony of the bishops, but 
should plead their cause where the accusers and witnesses of 
their crime may be present ; unless perchance a few despe- 
rate and abandoned men regard as insufficient the authority of 
the African bishops, who have already pronounced judgment on 
them, and have recently by their weighty sentence condemned 
them as guilty of many crimes, of which they themselves are 
fully conscious. Their cause has been already tried, sentence 
has been already passed on them ; and it is not consistent with 
the gravity of sacerdotal judgment, that it should be rescinded 
easily and lightly, since the Lord teaches us, saying : " Let 
your speech be: yea, yea; no, no."* Cyprian was delighted 
to find that Cornelius had repelled them. 

Mr. Allies having quoted this passage, subjoins : " Let any 
candid'man say, whether he who so wrote to one whom he ac- 
knowledged as the successor of St. Peter, could have imagined 
that there was a divine right in that succession to re-hear not on- 
ly this, but all other causes; to reverse all previous judgments 



* Ep. lix., alias liv., lv. 



226 



APPEALS. 



of his brethren by his single authority ; nay, more, to confer 
on all those brethren their jurisdiction by the grace of the 
Apostolic See."* Omitting to reply to the last clause, which 
is not to our present purpose, we answer with all candor, that 
the language of Cyprian, although bold, is consistent with the 
conviction of a divine right on the part of the Pope to receive ap- 
peals. It manifests only a strong feeling that its exercise in re- 
gard to inferior clergymen was calculated to encourage insub- 
ordination, and screen the guilty from punishment. A strong 
remonstrance might be put forward by one who acknowledged 
in the abstract the right, whose exercise in such cases he de- 
precated. 

The fourth century offers us an illustrious instance of an 
appeal made by the great champion of the divinity of Christ, 
the persecuted Bishop of Alexandria. In the year 335, whilst 
Constantine was still alive, he had been condemned and de- 
posed by a Council held in Tyre, at which Flacillus, Patriarch 
of Antioch, presided. Constantine, under the influence of the 
Eusebians, banished him ; but towards his death, relented : 
and after his decease his sons, in compliance with his wishes, 
permitted him to return to his see. — The Eusebians, mortified 
at his restoration, made every effort for his ruin, sent legates 
to Constance and Constans, and wrote against him to Pope 
Julius. Without awaiting any act of the emperors or Pontiff, 
they held a Council at Antioch in 341, and regarding the resto- 
ration of Athanasius as irregular, chose Gregory of Cappado- 
cia, an Arian, to be Bishop of Alexandria, whom they sent 
with the prefect Philagrius, and a military escort, to take pos- 
session of the see. They had previously sent Martirius and 
Hesychius, two deacons, as deputies to Rome ; who meeting 
there the deputies of Athanasius, and failing to sustain the 
charges which they had advanced against him, found them- 
selves under the necessity of calling for a trial, f that they 
might not appear utterly to abandon their cause. Julius ac- 
cordingly called a Council, in order to have a full investigation. 
In the meantime Athanasius arrived at Rome, having fled from 

* Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 29. 

f " Concilium indici postularunt, literasque et ad Eusebianos, et Athana- 
sium Alexandriam, quibus convocarentur, mitti, ut coram omnibus justo judi- 
cio de causa cognosci posset : turn enim se de Athanasio probaturos esse, 
quod jam nequirent." — Epist. Julii, p. 391. 



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227 



the violence of the intruder Gregory, and his partisans. The 
Pontiff sent legates to summon the accusers ; and determined 
likewise to institute inquiry into the crimes which they them- 
selves, or their partisans, had committed, and to punish them 
accordingly.* Under various pretexts, they detained the mes- 
sengers, and in the end, wrote an offensive letter, in which, 
however, they admitted "the pre-eminence of the Roman 
Church, as avowed by all, as having been from the commence- 
ment THE SCHOOL OF THE APOSTLES, AND THE METROPOLIS OF PIETY :""f 

whilst they complained of the intended re-opening of the cause 
of Athanasius. Notwithstanding their opposition, Julius pro- 
ceeded to examine the cause, in a Council consisting of fifty 
prelates. The acts of the Synod of Tyre, and of the commit- 
tee of bishops who were appointed to inquire into the facts at 
Mareotis, where they were said to have occurred, being sub- 
mitted to examination, were found to be irregular and unjust ; 
and Athanasius was acquitted by the unanimous judgment of 
the fathers. Julius communicated the result of their investi- 
gation, in the admirable letter which has been preserved by 
Athanasius, and which unites mild persuasion with authorita- 
tive judgment. 

The complaint made by the Eusebians, in their letter, of the 
re-opening of the cause, shows that they had not seriously ask- 
ed for a trial, and that the demand made by their deputies was 
a last subterfuge, when they failed to substantiate their charges 
in the less solemn discussion with the deputies of Athanasius. J 
It is for this reason that they expressed their willingness to 
abide by the judgment of Julius, if he should undertake the 
investigation. They hoped that he would decline ; and when, 
contrary to their expectations, their offer was accepted, those 
who had sent them shrunk from the trial, and sought by every 
frivolous pretence to excuse their default. They had applied 
f<Jr a confirmation of their sentence by the only authority 

* " Certe fratres nostri Romae anno superiori infensi prioribus eorum factis, 
quum nondum scelera ista accesserant, pro ultione sumenda concilium indici, 
celebrarique voluerunt." — S. Athanas., ad Orthodox, p. 338. 

f 3?£p£tv fiev yap rtatfi- ^n'h.of.Lv.av 'try piouauov ixxhrfiiav Iv tots ypafiuatiiv 
o/u-okoyow, cos artoato'kcov typovtiGtrjpiov, xoi sutfe^staj y.Tjf portohtv If app^f 
ysysvvyfiivqv — Sozomen., 1. 3, Hist. Eccl., c. viii. 

$ " Id enim eorum legati, quum se vinci animadverterent, postularunt."— 
Athanas., ad vitam sol. agentes, p. 440. 



228 



APPEALS. 



which could render it final and conclusive ; but as Athanasius 
sought to be released from their unjust censure, the actual pro- 
ceedings were in the nature of an appeal. The decision, al- 
though made in a synod, and with the assent of all, was em- 
phatically and justly styled the judgment of Julius, even by 
the Council subsequently held at Sardica. It has all the quali- 
ties that constitute a real exercise of judicial authority. Com- 
plaints had been lodged with Julius against Athanasius, as 
with a judge and superior ; afterwards, the cause proceeded 
entirely against the will of the party in whose name the inves- 
tigation had been demanded. This was manifestly the exer- 
cise of a supreme and independent judicial power, not derived 
from the voluntary act of those concerned. In his letter Ju- 
lius distinctly claims the right of summoning all the parties to 
his tribunal. At the head of the accusers was Flacillus, Pa- 
triarch of Antioch; — the accused, Athanasius, was Patriarch of 
Alexandria, the highest dignitary after the Roman Bishop, 
within whose jurisdiction both were embraced. As a proof of 
the innocence of Athanasius, Julius alleges that he freely pre- 
sented himself in Rome, and awaited during a year and a 
half the arrival of his accusers. He adds, that " by his pre- 
sence, he put them all to shame, for he would not have pre- 
sented himself for trial, had he not been confident of his inno- 
cence ; nor would he have spontaneously appeared, but he 
would have waited to be called to trial by our letters, as we 
summoned you in writing."* After this, no doubt can be en- 
tertained that the judgment emanated from a recognised tri- 
bunal. The details of the proceedings, as given in that letter, 
are such as constitute a trial. The accusations against Atha- 
nasius had been communicated in letters written by Eusebius, 
and his adherents ; the crimes were stated for which he had 
been condemned at Tyre, on the report made by a committee 
of bishops which sat at Mareotis ; the records of that trial 
were presented by Martyrius and Hesychius on the part of the 
accusers ; the leading accusers were absent by default ; Atha- 
nasius was heard in his defence ; a number of witnesses were 
examined, and a favorable sentence was pronounced, reinstating 

* " Suaque prsesentia pudefecit omnes : non enim judicio stetisset, nisi sui 
fiduciam habuisset, neque sponte, sed litteris nostris ad judicium vocatus com- 
paruisset, quemadmodum vos per litteras citavimus." — Julii. Ep., apud Atha- 
nas., Ap. 2, p. 396. 



APPEALS. 



229 



him in his episcopal dignity. At Mareotis the liberty of de- 
fence had been denied him, his witnesses having been exclud- 
ed, whilst his accuser alone was heard : " This we know," 
says the Pontiff, " not merely from his statement, but from the 
records of the acts brought by Marty rius and Hesychius ; for 
on reading them, we found that Ischyras, his accuser, was 
present, but that Macarius and Athanasius were not present, 
and that the priests of Athanasius were not admitted, though 
they earnestly demanded it. Dearly beloved, if indeed that 
trial were carried on fairly, it was necessary that not only 
the accuser, but the accused should be present."* Julius 
evidently had a just idea of the regular forms of trial. He 
felt, likewise, that in virtue of his office, he could annul this 
irregular sentence, and that, if Athanasius had been guilty, he 
could condemn him. The merits of the case had been can- 
vassed, no less than the mode of proceeding. It was proved 
from the very records of the former trial, that the chief accu- 
ser, Ischyras, was convicted of perjury by his own witnesses. 
" Since, then," says the Pontiff, " these things were brought 
forward, and so many witnesses appeared in behalf of Atha- 
nasius, and he made so just a defence — what was it becoming 
us to do ? — Was it not our duty to proceed according to the 
ecclesiastical canon ? Should we not, therefore, abstain from 
condemning the man, and rather admit and regard him as a 
bishop, as in truth he is ? "f He complains severely of the 
proceedings of the Orientals while the cause was pending be- 
fore his tribunal ; the Eusebians having violently intruded 
Gregory into the See of Alexandria, without awaiting the de- 
cision : " For in the first place," he continues, " to speak can- 
didly, it was not right that, when we had issued letters for the 
celebration of a synod, any one should anticipate the judgment 
of the synod." He also intimates that the Eusebians them- 
selves would have been put on trial, had they appeared, ac- 
cusations having been formally presented against them ; and 
he accuses them of contumacy, and implied confession of guilt, 
in neglecting to appear to stand their trial. J 

* " Oportebat autem, dilectissimi, siquidem sinceriter illud judicium age- 
batur, non solum accusatorem, sed et reum praesentem sisti." — P. 394. 

f " An non quod ecclesiastici canonis est ! hominemque proinde non con- 
demnaremus, sed potius reciperemus 1 " — P. 395. 

% " Alaerius a vobis et sine recusatione occurrendum fuit, ne qui hactenus 



230 



APPEALS. 



This letter will satisfy impartial and discerning readers, 
that, at that early period of the Church, the Bishop of Rome 
exercised real jurisdiction in the most important causes, in 
whatever part of the world the parties resided, or whatever 
rank they occupied in the hierarchy. The exercise of his high 
authority is marked in almost every line. As the authorita- 
tive guardian of the canons, he complains that the ecclesiasti- 
cal canon has been violated. To him, as the divinely- consti- 
tuted ruler of the whole Church, not only Athanasius and Mar- 
cellus, " but also many other bishops from Thrace, Ccelosyria, 
Phoenicia, Palestine," came, complaining of the wrongs which 
they had endured, and which had been inflicted on their re- 
spective churches. The plea the Eusebians offered for filling 
the sees of Athanasius and Marcellus, could not be put for- 
ward to palliate the violence by which others were driven away 
from their bishoprics and country. " Suppose," said Julius, 
" that Athanasius and Marcellus, as you write, were removed 
from their sees, what can you say of the others, who, as I have 
said, have come hither from various places, both priests and 
bishops ? — for they also affirm that they have been driven 
away, and that they have suffered similar outrages. O ! be- 
loved ! ecclesiastical trials are no longer conducted in confor- 
mity with the Gospel, but with a view to exile or death. If, 
as you say, they were absolutely guilty, the trial should have 
been carried on according to the canon, and not in that way. 
You should have first written to us all, so that what is just 
might be decreed by all. For they who suffered these things 
were bishops, and not of an ordinary Church, but of one which 
the apostles themselves had, by their labor, instructed in the 
faith. Why, then, have you neglected to write to us anything, 
especially concerning the city of Alexandria ? Do you not 

KNOW THAT IT IS THE CUSTOM TO WRITE FIRST TO US, THAT WHAT 

is just may be determined ? Wherefore, if suspicions of that 
kind had fallen on the bishop there, it should have been re- 
ported to our Church. Now, after having done as they pleased, 
without informing us at all, they wish us to approve of their 
sentence of condemnation, in which we had no share. Such 
are not the ordinances of Paul — such is not the teaching of 
the fathers — but this is arrogance and innovation. I beseech 

infamia istorum scelerum laborant, contumacia non comparendi in judicio, li- 
bellos contra se datos videantur refellere non potuisse." — Ibid. 



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231 



you, hear me willingly : I write for the general advantage. I 
intimate to you what we have learned from the blessed apos- 
tle Peter : nor would I write things which I am persuaded you 
know already, had not the transactions filled us with affliction." 
Accordingly, Julius recognised Athanasius in his episcopal 
rank, leaving the formal reversal of the sentence to take place 
after a re-hearing in presence of both parties, when a Council 
could be assembled. 

Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, was of the number of those 
prelates who successfully appealed to the superior authority of 
the Bishop of Rome, for relief from the unjust judgment of an 
Eastern Council. Having repaired to Rome, and for a long 
time awaited in vain the arrival of his accusers, he submitted 
to Julius a written exposition of his faith. His letter com- 
mences with these words : " Since some of those who were 
formerly condemned for heterodoxy, whom I exposed in the 
Council of Nice, have dared write against me to your Holiness, 
as if I did not entertain correct sentiments, conformable to the 
teaching of the Church, endeavoring to transfer to me their 
own fault, on this account I thought it necessary to repair to 
Rome, and suggest to you to send for those who wrote against 
me, that on their appearing, I might confound them in both re- 
spects, by showing that what they have written against me is 
false, and that they themselves still continue in their original 
error, and that they are guilty of criminal machinations against 
the churches of God, and against us who preside over them ; 
but since they have declined to come, although you sent mes- 
sengers after them, and I have waited a year and three entire 
months at Rome, I have thought it necessary, before my de- 
parture, to deliver you the profession of faith, which I have 
written, in all sincerity, with my own hand, which I have 
learned, and in which I have been instructed from the Divine 
Scriptures."* He concludes by requesting Julius to transmit 
a copy of this profession to the other bishops, that his ortho- 
doxy might thus be manifest. The Council of Sardica, in con- 
formity with the judgment of Julius, acknowledged Marcellus 
and Athanasius as bishops in the communion of the Church. 

Socrates, a Greek historian of the fifth century, in the most 
emphatic terms, relates the recourse of various bishops to 



* Vide ep. Marc elli inter ep. Rom. Pont., Coustant, p. 390. 



232 



APPEALS. 



the authority of the Pope : " At the same time {when Atha- 
nasius arrived) Paul also, the Bishop of Constantinople, Ascle- 
pas of Gaza, Marcellus of Ancyra, a city in Lesser Galatia, and 
Lucius of Hadrianople, each accused of a different offence, 
and driven from their churches, reach the imperial city. When 
they had stated their case to Julius, Bishop of the Roman city, 
he, according to the prerogative of the Roman Church, sent 
them back into the East, bearing with them strong letters, and 
restored them to their sees, severely rebuking those who had 
rashly deposed them. They, accordingly, setting out from 
Rome, sustained by the letters of the Bishop Julius, took pos- 
session of their churches, and sent the letters to those to whom 
they were directed."* Sozomen, speaking of the same bishops, 
says : " The Roman Bishop having taken cognizance of the 
cases of each of them, and finding them all to harmonize in 
the Nicene faith, admitted them to his communion. And since 

ON ACCOUNT OF THE DIGNITY OF HIS SEE, THE CARE OF ALL BELONGED 
TO HIM, HE RESTORED EACH ONE TO HIS CHURCH."f With these facts 

before us, we cannot wonder at the avowal of Hallam : " The 
opinion of the Roman See's supremacy, seems to have prevail- 
ed very much in the fourth century. Fleury brings remarkable 
proofs of this from the writings of Socrates, Sozomen, Ammi- 
anus, Marcellinus, and Optatus."J 

The restoration of so many Catholic bishops to their sees by 
the pontifical authority, was viewed with pain by the abet- 
tors of Arianism, who, in a Conventicle held at Philippopolis 
in Thrace, combined to prevent it, and gave loose reins to their 
frenzy against Pope Julius :§ but the Council of Sardica, which 
was assembled at the same time, came to the support of his 
prerogative, and enacted canons to regulate the proceedings 
thenceforward in all cases of appeal. The holding of this 
Council was necessary for the formal reversal of the sentence 
of deposition, and to induce the Emperor Constantius to dis- 
possess the Arian Gregory of the See of Alexandria, into 
which he had been intruded, and restore Athanasius. Accord- 
ingly, at the instance of Julius himself,|| Constans, the Catho- 
lic emperor, urged his Arian brother to summon a Council, that 

* Hist. Eccl., 1. ii., c. xv. f L. iii., Hist. Eccl., c. vii. 

% Hallam, Middle Ages, ch. vii., p. 270. 
§ See Diss, de appellationibus, c. xiii., a Christiano Lupo. 
jj Sozqmen, 1. iii., Hist., c. i. Socrates, 1. ii., Hist., c. xx. 



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233 



the facts might be placed in their proper light by a full re- 
hearing of the case, in the presence of both parties. 

The fathers of this Council observe, that the accusers of 
Athanasius, though present at Sardica, " did not dare appear 
in the Council of the holy bishops : from which circumstance 
the justice of the judgment of our brother and fellow-bishop 
Julius most clearly appeared, who passed sentence not rashly, 
but after mature deliberation." In their letter to the Egyptian 
and African bishops, they mention the accusations against 
Athanasius, preferred to Julius, Bishop of the Roman Church, 
— the letters written to him in defence of the accused by 
bishops of various places — the summons issued to the Euse- 
bians to appear, and their shrinking from the trial : whence 
they infer their guilt, — "because, being summoned by our be- 
loved fellow-minister Julius, they did not present themselves 
for trial."* The innocence of Athanasius was sufficiently es- 
tablished by the judgment of Julius ; but the violence of his 
enemies was not subdued, and the intruder, who was sustained 
by the civil power, was not ejected. Hence the fathers of this 
Council, in their first letter, implore the emperors not to suffer 
the public officers to pass sentence on clergymen, or to molest 
the brethren, but to leave every one at liberty to follow the 
Catholic and apostolic faith, without being subject to the vio- 
lence of persecution. 

This Council bore the most splendid testimony to the privi- 
leges of the primacy. Osius proposed : " If any bishop be con- 
demned in any cause, and thinks that his cause is good, and that 
a trial should again take place, if it meet your approbation;, 
let us honor the memory of the holy apostle Peter, and let 
those who investigated the case write to the Roman Bishop, 
and if he judge that a new trial be granted, let it be granted, 
and let him appoint judges. But if he judge that the cause is 
such that the proceedings should not be called in question, 
they shall be confirmed. Is this the will of all ? The synod 
answered : It is our will."f Gaudentius, a bishop, then pro- 
posed, that should an appeal be lodged to Rome, no bishop 
should be ordained in place of the deposed prelate : which 
was agreed to. These canons were adopted by the Council, 

* " Judicio non steterunt." 

t Sardic. Cone, can. iv., torn, i., Cone. Hard., col. 640. 



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APPEALS. 



and report was made of the whole proceedings to Julius, in a 
synodical letter, in which the fathers say : " This appears to 
be excellent and most suitable, if the priests of the Lord from 
the several provinces report to the head, that is, to the See 
of the Apostle Peter."* 

In this Council, held a few years after that of Nice, Osius be- 
ing present at both, Rome is recognised as the See of Peter, 
and the mode of proceeding in ecclesiastical causes is regu- 
lated with a marked deference to its Bishop. He is acknow- 
ledged to be the head, and is requested to admonish by his let- 
ters all bishops not to communicate with those whom the Coun- 
cil had condemned. It has been sometimes said that the Coun- 
cil of Sardica granted the right of appeal ; but this is incon- 
sistent with the well-established fact, that appeals had been 
previously made and heard: a close inspection of the two 
canons that regard this matter will show, that recognising the 
right, they regulated the mode of proceeding. The first enact- 
ment which they made on this subject, was intended to correct 
an abuse, not to confer a privilege. Before this, a condemned 
bishop sometimes succeeded in obtaining a new trial from the 
bishops of the neighboring province. To prevent this, it was 
enacted that no new trial should be granted, unless by the spe- 
cial authority of the holy See, who should appoint the judges. 
With regard to appeals to the Pope, " from the judgment of 
those bishops who belonged to the neighboring parts," the 
Council, at the suggestion of Gaudentius, decreed, that if a 
bishop " should proclaim that his cause should be heard in the 
city of Rome, another bishop, pending the appeal, should not 
by any means be ordained in the place of him who ap- 
pears to be deposed, unless the cause be determined by 
the judgment of the Roman Bishop." This enactment sup- 
poses the right of appeal, and restrains the provincial bishops 
from proceeding to the ordination of a new bishop. It 
determines this appeal to have the effect of suspending 
all provincial acts. The object is manifest from the. case of 
Athanasius, into whose see, whilst his cause was pending 
at Rome, Gregory had been intruded. Had the right of appeal 

* " Hoc enim optimum et valde congruentissimum esse videbitur, si ad ca- 
put, id est, ad Petri Apostoli sedem, de singulis quibusque provinciis Domini 
referant sacerdotes." Ep. Synod. Sardic, apud. Hard. col. Cone, torn, i., 
col. 653. 



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235 



been conferred by that Council, it would still be worthy of re- 
mark that it was with a view to honor the chair of Peter, and 
consequently it should be taken as an evidence of the primacy, 
the exercise of whose prerogatives it was designed to regulate 
in a manner conformable to the interests of piety and peace, 
in the confidence that it would meet with the cordial approba- 
tion of the Pontiff. The influence of the Roman Bishop, had 
it at all originated in the greatness of the imperial city, must 
have been on the wane ever since Constant] ne raised the new 
seat of empire at Byzantium. The prejudices of Constantius 
must have made him view with peculiar jealousy every new 
privilege of a bishop, the avowed and implacable enemy of 
Arianism, who had so lately sustained Athanasius against the 
Arian faction. The fathers of Sardica had been called toge- 
ther by the letters of this Arian emperor. Everything, then, 
concurred to persuade them to diminish, rather than augment 
the prerogatives of Rome ; and nothing could have induced 
them to recognise its superiority, or admit its rights, but the 
deep-rooted conviction that they were the rich inheritance be- 
queathed by the prince of the apostles to his successors. 

The exercise of the power of receiving appeals before the 
holding of this Council, proves that it was not derived from it. 
It is a right which clearly flows from the office of Chief Bishop, 
and which must consequently be deemed of Divine institution. 
In giving to Peter the keys of His kingdom, Christ made him 
highest in authority, with a governing power over all ; and 
authorized him to bind all by his decrees ; or loose them, by 
reversing the sentences of his colleagues. This is not to be 
done capriciously, but justly, in conformity with the Divine 
law, and with a strict regard to the interests of the Church at 
large. The exercise of the power may vary, and may be re- 
gulated by the canons, with the assent of the Pontiff*, with a 
view to order and harmony ; but the power itself cannot be 
taken away or restricted by positive enactments, since it 
flows from a higher source — the will of Jesus Christ, who 
constituted Peter, under Himself, chief ruler and chief pastor. 

St. Basil is an illustrious witness of the exercise of the 
privileges of the primacy in absolving, on appeal, a bishop 
deposed in an Eastern synod. Eustathius of Sebaste, in Ar- 
menia, had, in various circumstances, professed Arianism, in 
consequence of which he was deposed from his see. In a let- 



236 



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ter to the Western bishops, Basil thus relates the artifice which 
he employed to recover his dignity : " Being cast out of his 
bishopric, from which he had been already deposed in Meliti- 
na, he thought on this plan of recovering his place, to under- 
take a journey to you. What things were proposed to him 
by the most blessed Liberius, and what he consented to, we 
know not : but he brought back with him a letter reinstating 
him, which being presented to the synod of Tyana, he was re- 
stored to his place." * No stronger evidence could be given 
of the papal authority. Liberius reversed the decree of an 
Oriental Synod, and restored the deposed bishop, in which 
exercise of authority, another Synod acquiesced, even when 
there was strong reason to believe that the Pontiff had acted 
on false representations. 

St. Chrysostom sent to Innocent an embassy, consisting of 
four bishops and two deacons, to state plainly and clearly all 
the wrongs which he had suffered from the violence of Theo- 
philus of Alexandria, and his abettors, and to obtain redress 
without delay. He shows that the Egyptian could have no 
authority in Thrace ; and implores the Pontiff to display be- 
coming fortitude and zeal for the remedy of these disorders : 
" Lest so great confusion should become general, I beseech 
you to write to the effect that these irregular proceedings, 
which were carried on in our absence, and from ex parte in- 
formation, whilst we did not decline trial, are of no effect ; as 
they are in fact null of themselves ; and that the authors of 
these illegal measures shall be subjected to the penalty pre- 
scribed by the ecclesiastical laws. Grant us likewise, who 
have not been convicted, reproved, or denounced as guilty of 
crime, to enjoy your letters immediately, and your love, and 
that of all others as hitherto." f 

In some manuscripts it is stated that Chrysostom wrote in 
like terms to Venerius, Bishop of Milan, and Chromatius of 
Aquileja ; but there is reason to believe that this is an unau- 
thorized observation of some one who supposed that the two 
letters addressed to these prelates, which are still extant, 
were written at this time, although their contents be different. 
If, however, it be admitted that Chrysostom addressed to them 
letters of the same tenor, it must have been as to the chief 



* Ep. cclxiii., alias Ixxiv. f Ep. iv., apud Coustant, col. 785. 



APPEALS. 



237 



counsellors of the Pope, in matters of high importance, with a 
view to obtain their influence and co-operation. 

Innocent, addressing the clergy of Constantinople, who had 
written to him on the same subject, pronounced the deposi- 
tion of their bishop irregular, unjust and void.* This sentence 
was intended to replace Chrysostom in his station, and deter- 
mined his right of possession, f without deciding the merits 
of the case, J for which maturer examination and more so- 
lemn judgment were desirable. The adverse parties were 
Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, and the Empress Eu- 
doxia, supported by the emperor, in her hostility to the 
stern reprover of her luxury and injustice. For this reason 
it was proper that the case should be fully examined in a 
Synod, in which the Pope, by his legates, should preside, that 
the solemnity of the proceedings might conciliate respect for 
the final sentence. Innocent accordingly directed a Synod to 
be held at Thessalonica, saying that there was no other me- 
thod of allaying the storm. § There was no deficiency of au- 
thority on his part ; but the acts of the Council which had 
condemned Chrysostom, could not be rescinded with propriety, 
unless after a re-hearing of the case, which it was desirable 
should be attended with equal solemnity. Chrysostom, who, 
by providential interposition, was in the mean time restored to 
his See, felt grateful for the kind solicitude of Innocent ; and 
knowing the perilous nature of his situation, still implored his 
protection : " You continue," he says, " to imitate excellent 
pilots, who are most attentive when they see the waves raised 
up, the sea swelling, the waters rushing, and thick darkness in 
the midst of day."|| He represents Innocent as manifesting 
more than parental benevolence and affection in his efforts to 
relieve him. Thus did the Bishop of the imperial city acknow- 
ledge and implore the superior power of the successor of Peter. 
The Alexandrine Patriarch likewise recognised it by sending 
ambassadors to support his sentence before the pontifical tri- 
bunal. II 

§ 2. African Controversy. 
The most splendid testimonies were rendered by the Bishops 

* Palladium in vita Chrysostomi : a8s tijaas. 

f In possessorio. J In petitorio et devolutive 

§ T. i., ep. Rom. Pontif., col. 799. 

II Ep. xi., col. 810. 1 T. i., ep. R. P. 804. 

15 



238 



APPEALS. 



of Africa, in the early part of the fifth century, to the authority 
of the Holy See, which they acknowledged to be derived from 
the Divine Scriptures,* yet, at that very time, a controversy 
arose between them and Pope Zosimus, on the subject of 
appeals, which is now brought forward to prove that they did 
ziot admit his supremacy. We have already heard the com- 
plaints of St. Cyprian concerning clergymen, who, by having 
recourse to a distant tribunal, sought to escape from the just 
sentence of their bishops. The like dissatisfaction was felt 
by Aurelius, who occupied the See of the Martyr at the time 
of which we now speak, and by the African Bishops general- 
ly ; so that in a numerous Council held at Carthage, in the year 
418, canons were enacted with a view to remedy what was 
felt to be an abuse. It was decreed that clerical causes, with 
the consent of the diocesan, might undergo a re-hearing before 
neighboring bishops ; or by way of appeal, might come under 
the cognizance of a provincial Council, or of the primate of 
the province. In order effectually to preclude any appeal of 
clergymen to a tribunal beyond the seas — that is, to the 
Bishop of Rome — the prelates agreed that any such appellant 
should not be received to communion by any of their number. 
The appeal of Apiarius, a priest excommunicated for grievous 
crimes, by Urban, Bishop of Sicca, brought matters to a crisis, 
and Zosimus immediately despatched Faustinus, an Italian 
bishop, with two priests, as papal legates, commissioned to re- 
instate the appellant, to excommunicate the bishop in case he 
persisted in disregarding the appeal, or to send him to 
Rome for trial, and to regulate all future appeals after the 
manner prescribed by the Council of Nice. The Pontiff thus 
designated the canons of Sardica, because they were added to 
those of Nice in the manuscript of the Roman Church. f In 
May, 419, a Council of two hundred and seventeen bishops, 
assembled at Carthage, received the legates, who delivered to 
them in writing the Apostolic mandates. The canons referred 
to were wholly unknown to the prelates, who, however, 
pledged themselves to observe them until such time as their 
authenticity could be ascertained, by consulting the archives 
of the great Churches of Alexandria, Antioch and Constanti- 

* P. 154. 

f Cod. Iustelli, apud Ballerin., t. iii., oper. S. Leon, p. 59. Also, apud Be- 
ned., in not. ad ep. Zos., xv. 



APPEALS. 



239 



nople. Faustinus urged that, to avoid all appearance of strife, 
the prelates should rather address the Holy See directly, and 
seek from it the desired information ; which they readily 
agreed to, without, however, abandoning their intention of 
sending commissioners to the other churches. The case of 
Apiarius was settled by his removal to another diocese, and 
the apparent contumacy of Urban was satisfactorily accounted 
for, so that, after some warm debate, harmony succeeded. We 
know, however, from St. Augustin, that Urban himself visited 
Rome,* most probably with a view to explain his conduct to 
the Pontiff. The appeal of a priest was the occasion of the 
Pontifical interposition ; but it prompted Zosimus to put the 
whole matter of appeals on a proper basis. The canons which 
he cited, left clergymen at liberty to appeal from the sentence 
of their diocesan, to neighboring bishops, without making 
mention of the Bishop of Rome ; and a similar enactment is 
ascribed to the Council of Carthage, held in the preceding- 
year. Hence surprise is expressed that Zosimus should rely 
on the canon as sanctioning the appeals of clergymen to the 
Apostolic See ; and that the African fathers should admit it 
only provisionally. The Pope, indeed, did not labor to prove 
from it his right to receive the appeals of clergymen, concern- 
ing which the plenitude of his authority suffered him to en- 
tertain no question ; but he meant to show the right of appeal 
to neighboring bishops, which was recognised by the Sardi- 
can canons. This right of appeal was restricted by the 
African prelates to provincial Councils, or at least to the pri- 
mates of the province, since the consent of the diocesan was 
requisite for the re-hearing of the case before neighboring 
bishops, whilst the canon of Sardica recognised the right 
without any such restriction. The grievance of which Apia- 
rius had complained, was, that the sentence of Urban, his 
diocesan, could not be reversed without his consent, by a 
neighboring prelate ; and Zosimus wished to throw open a 
door by which an injured priest could obtain redress, without 
awaiting the celebration of a provincial Council, or depending 
on the judgment and good pleasure of the Primate alone. By 
introducing the Sardican canon, the necessity of appealing to 
the Holy See in ordinary cases would have been removed, and 



Aug., ep. cclxiii. 



240 



APPEALS. 



a fruitful occasion of murmurs avoided ; but the African fa- 
thers were apprehensive that so great facility of appeal would 
unsettle discipline, loose the bonds of authority, and lead to 
relaxation and disorder. 

The appeals of bishops, although not at all controverted 
when this discussion first arose, came under consideration in 
consequence of the wish of the Pope to have the canons put 
into full operation. It had always been customary for African 
bishops to appeal to Rome, as is gathered from St. Cyprian 
and St. Augustin ; but the mode of trying the appeal by a pa- 
pal legate, as prescribed at Sardica, appears to have been new 
to the Africans, who complained that the bearing of the legate 
Faustinas savored of imperiousness. For this reason they 
gave in the same qualified and provisional adhesion to the ca- 
non regarding episcopal appeals ; and when the inquiry, ap- 
parently, resulted unfavorably to the authenticity of the de- 
crees, the bishops* who addressed Celestine, in the year 425, 
extended their remonstrances to episcopal appeals, and earn- 
estly besought him not to receive them easily, nor to send le- 
gates into Africa, whose demeanor might exhibit in the Church 
the pride of secular domination. 

I have thus endeavored to unravelf this somewhat intricate 
controversy, and to gather from the documents, which are ap- 
parently discordant, a narrative that may be consistent in it- 
self, and reconcilable with their testimony. The appeal of 
Apiarius, a priest, being the immediate occasion of dispute, 
and the African canon expressly regarding the appeals of 
priests, or inferior clergymen, we are bound to consider the 
main controversy as confined to such appeals ; and the mode 
and form of episcopal appeals connected with it only inciden- 
tally. 

The misnomer of the canons by Zosimus greatly embarrass- 
ed the discussion, and emboldened the prelates, in their letter 
to Celestine, to assume a tone which they were not wont to 
use in addressing the successor of Peter. We may not now 

* The names of Augustin, and several others of the former Council, do 
not appear among them : so that the stress which Mr. Palmer and others lay 
on his authority, is without foundation in fact. He partook, but in a most 
conciliatory spirit, of the earlier proceedings. 

t See Diss, ii., de Africans Eccl. Rom. appell., c. xxviii., a Christiano 
Lupo. 



APPEALS. 



241 



easily conceive how canons which were passed at Sardica in 
347, should, after seventy years, be ascribed, especially by the 
highest dignitary of the Church, to a Council which was held 
in 325 : but as many of the Nicene prelates, and especially 
Hosius, their leader, were present at Sardica, it is not strange 
that their decrees should have been added to the roll of the pro- 
ceedings at Nice, and preserved with them in the Roman ar- 
chives, and thus, in progress of time, identified and confounded 
with them. Very ancient manuscripts show this to have been 
the fact ; and Innocent L, who preceded Zosimus, refers, in 
several passages,* to the Sardican canons under the title of 
Nicene, loudly professing that the Catholic Church follows no 
other canons than those adopted at Nice.f In the scarcity of 
manuscripts, it was no easy matter to trace the mistake to its 
origin, and to distinguish the sources of decrees which came 
down recommended by the same authority. The Council of 
the Arians, held at Philippopolis, which had assumed the name 
of Sardican, J had rendered this title invidious, and thus served 
to involve the proceedings of the Catholic prelates in obscurity. 
The report of the African commissioners, that the alleged ca- 
nons were not found in the great churches, left the Pope in 
the embarrassing situation of one who had failed to substanti- 
ate his authorities : and the African Bishops did not neglect 
to avail themselves of the advantage afforded to them: yet 
their tone of triumph was evidently moderated by a sense that 
he whom they addressed might still do, independently of all 
positive legislation, that which he had sought to do, with the 
support of the canons of a General Council. Greeting him re- 
verentially as " Lord brother," they say : " We earnestly en- 
treat you not easily to give ear hereafter to such as come 
hence, nor any more to receive to communion persons excom- 
municated by us." 

It is sometimes imagined that in this controversy Zosimus 
brought forward the canons as the ground of his claim : but 
this is wholly incorrect. He did not address any document on 
this subject to the African fathers, but he sent his legates with 
instructions how to act, ordering them to reinstate Apiarius, 
and to procure such enactments by the Council as would har- 

* Ep. ad Victricium Rothom. f Ep. xxv., ad Constant, clerum et pop. 
X Aug., 1. iii., contra Cresconium, c. xxxiv. 



242 



APPEALS. 



monize with, the canons, and with established usage. In re- 
ferring to these, he was not pointing to the source of his own 
authority, but he was simply marking out a general plan of 
proceeding in ecclesiastical causes, approved of by the wisdom 
of a venerable assembly. No one could assert the supreme 
authority of his see in terms stronger than those which he 
had employed the preceding year, when addressing the African 
fathers in relation to the appeal of Celestius from the sentence 
of a former Council. Although the appeals of priests, in per- 
sonal causes, were generally discountenanced, no objection 
was made, even by the African Bishops, to an appeal from a 
doctrinal decision ; matters of faith being afways considered 
as inter causas majores, belonging of right to the cognizance of 
the Holy See : but as the appeal of Celestius lay dormant for 
some years, in consequence of his neglect to follow it up, and 
the doctrinal points had been defined by Innocent, the prelates 
complained that Zosimus had permitted the case to be re- 
opened. On being informed that the Pontiff had determined 
on absolving the heresiarch, if within two months his accusers 
did not establish his heterodoxy, they assembled in Council, in 
order to communicate to him in the most solemn manner their 
views and judgment of the wiles of Celestius. The answer of 
the Pope commences with the most ample declaration of pon- 
tifical supremacy, of which, among other things, he says : "For 
canonical antiquity, and the very promise of Christ our God, 
have given to this apostle (Peter) such power over the sentences 
of all, that he can loose what is bound, and bind what is loose ; 
and equal power has been given to those who, through his fa- 
vor, have been made worthy to inherit his see."* 

It is an error to suppose that the African Bishops made their 
submission depend on the result of the inquiry as to the au- 
thenticity of the canons. Through respect for the pontifical 
authority, they submitted at once in the particular case in ques- 
tion, and suffered Apiarius to re-enter on the exercise of sacred 
functions, although they were convinced that he had deceived 
Zosimus. The same feeling prompted them to pledge them- 
selves to the observance of the rules proposed, during the in- 
terval to be employed in the inquiry. The cause why they re- 
served to themselves the liberty to recede, in the contingency 



* See p. 171. 



APPEALS. 



243 



that the canons could not be verified, was because the Pontiff, 
not urging his own authority in the abstract, professed only a 
desire to enforce their observance ; and he was justly presumed 
not to wish to interfere with national usages and laws, beyond 
what zeal for canonical discipline required. 

The relapse of Apiarius into crime presented, after a few 
years, an occasion for renewing the controversy about ap- 
peals, the unfortunate delinquent having again sought to shelter 
himself under the authority of Rome. The legate, believing 
him to be persecuted, and conceiving it to be a duty to vindi- 
cate the Apostolic privileges assailed in his person, acted ra- 
ther as his advocate, than with the impartiality of a judge, on 
his trial in the Council convened for that purpose. When the 
minds of the fathers were considerably excited, and the chari- 
ties which should be mutually cherished by them and the repre- 
sentative of the Holy See, were endangered, remorse seized on 
the wretched man, who, in the presence of all, acknowledged 
his guilt and implored mercy. Thus his case was, at length, 
brought to a favorable issue ; but the bishops were the more em- 
boldened to persevere in their opposition to the appeals, seeing 
that these served to screen the guilty from punishment. This, 
however, involved no question as to the supreme authority of 
the Holy See, which, in each particular case, was respected 
and obeyed, even when its exercise was deemed a grievance. 
Hence they confined themselves to remonstrance, and laid be- 
fore the Pontiff the inconveniences and disorders attendant on 
the practice, without denying the abstract right, which, on the 
contrary, they pre-supposed by expostulating against its undue 
exercise. 

Bishops had always exercised the right of appeal from Africa 
as well as from other parts of the Church, as we learn from a 
letter of St. Augustin to Celestine, written about the year 423, 
after the controversy about appeals had been long agitated. 
Anthony, Bishop of Fussala, a diocese formed out of that of 
Hippo, had been removed by St. Augustin from its govern- 
ment, without being deposed from the episcopate. Having 
appealed to Boniface, and gained the support of the primate of 
the province, who gave him commendatory letters to the Pon- 
tiff, he succeeded in obtaining a favorable rescript, qualified, 
however, with the proviso, if the facts were such as he had 
represented ; which would have required a formal examina- 



244 



APPEALS. 



tion in an ecclesiastical assembly. Not caring to verify them, 
he proceeded, by the aid of the civil power, to recover posses- 
sion of his see, and thus scandalized the faithful, and filled 
with affliction the heart of Augustin. In the letter addressed 
to Celestine, tne successor of Boniface, Augustin does not at 
all controvert the right of appeal ; but he seeks to take away 
the ground on which Antony relied, namely, that removal 
from the charge of a diocess could not take place without de- 
gradation from the episcopal office, and he points to three recent 
instances in which the Apostolic See had pronounced similar 
sentences, or had confirmed sentences which had emanated 
from inferior tribunals. " There are," he says, " examples of 
some who, for certain faults, were neither stripped of the epis- 
copal dignity, nor left altogether unpunished, the Apostolic 
See itself having pronounced sentence, or confirmed the sen- 
tences of others. Not to go back to very ancient instances, I 
shall mention some that are recent."* The confirmation of a 
sentence supposes that the case had been brought by appeal 
to the higher tribunal. There is no foundation for the asser- 
tion that these instances took place during the interval of in- 
quiry, when the bishops had pledged themselves to observe 
the canons proposed by Zosimus : there is no probability in the 
supposition that the ancient examples were to be sought out of 
Africa : there is no reason for tracing them to the Sardican 
enactments, which were unknown in those churches. Augus- 
tin, speaking of a still remoter period, observed, that Cecilian 
could well disregard the proceedings of the conventicle of Ti- 
gisis against him, and await the examination of his case by 
the church beyond the sea, where, if his adversaries refused 
to appear, they would, by their own act, cut themselves off 
from the communion of the world.f This supposes a trial by 
the Pontiff, on appeal, long before the Council of Sardica was 
held. 

From the whole proceedings and documents, it is clear, that 
the power of the Pope to receive appeals was not at all called 
in question ; much less was his primacy disputed, which, on 
the contrary, was eminently displayed in the doctrinal deci- 
sions of Innocent and Zosimus, hailed with acclamation by the 
African Councils, and by the whole Christian world. The 



* Ep. ccix., alias cclx., Aug. Caelest. 



f Ep. clxii. 



APPEALS. 



245 



complaints of the fathers originally regarded the appeals of 
clergymen, in cases of a mere personal character, and after- 
wards embraced the form of proceeding in episcopal appeals, 
and finally the appeals themselves ; but notwithstanding the 
disorders which arose from the abuse of the privilege, the 
right and power were never controverted. Subsequent usage 
continued to correspond with the earlier examples, and accord- 
ingly we find Leo despatching Potentius to Africa, that he 
might on the spot examine the case of the Bishop Lupicinus, 
who had invoked the pontifical authority.* St. Gregory the 
Great directed the Bishop of Numidia to investigate the case 
of Donadeus, deposed by Victor, and to treat the prelate with 
canonical severity if he should be found to have acted un- 
justly.f 

§ 3. Promiscuous Examples. 

In the year 443, St. Leo had occasion to exercise the same 
right in the case of Chelidonius, deposed in a Council at which 
St. Hilary of Aries presided. Writing to the bishops of the 
province of Vienne, he confidently referred to immemorial cus- 
tom as authorizing him to decide at Rome, on appeal, causes 
originating in Gaul, and to reverse the sentence of the Gallic 
prelates, contrary to the pretensions of Hilary, who contended 
that he should appoint judges to review the cause in the pro- 
vince where it was first tried : " You, brethren," he said, " will 
acknowledge with us that the Apostolic See, in virtue of the 
reverence due to it, has been consulted by the priests of your 
province likewise, in innumerable instances; and that in vari- 
ous cases of appeals, conformably to ancient custom, the deci- 
sions were either rescinded or confirmed."J Accordingly, he 
overruled the objections of Hilary, restored Chelidonius to his 
see, and obtained a rescript of Valentinian III., that his de- 
cree might have civil force, and be put in execution.§ 

* Ep. xii., ad ep. Afric. f L. xii., ep. viii. 

% Ep. x., ad ep. per prov. Vien. 

$ The right of hearing appeals was fully acknowledged in the time of St. 
Gregory the Great. Sending a defender into Spain, he directed him to ex- 
amine the case of Januarius, who had been deposed, and if he found him inno- 
cent, to reinstate him in his bishopric, to hand over to his authority the in- 
truder, that he might be confined, or sent to the Pontiff, and to subject the 
bishops who had pronounced the unjust sentence to do penance in a monaste- 



246 



APPEALS. 



We have elsewhere seen that Eutyches, when condemned 
by Flavian, in the Synod of Constantinople, had recourse to 
Leo, falsely alleging that he had lodged an appeal, which 
shows that the right of appeal existed. Flavian himself, be- 
ing unjustly condemned by Dioscorus in the tumultuous assem- 
bly of Ephesus, put into the hands of the apostolic legates an 
appeal against the iniquitous sentence.* The Pope annulled 
the acts, recognised Flavian as of his communion, and cau- 
tioned the people of Constantinople against receiving any other 
bishop in his lifetime. f Gelasius, speaking of the appeal of 
Flavian and Chrysostom, says : " The Apostolic See, by not 
consenting to the sentence, absolved them." J The American 
editor of Mosheim's Church History observes, that "Flavian 
before his death appealed to Leo ; and this appeal, pursued by 
the Pontiff, occasioned the Council in which Eutyches was con- 
demned, and the sanguinary Dioscorus deposed."§ 

Theodoret, Bishop of Cyr, was condemned in the false Council 
of Ephesus, but, like Flavian, appealed to the just judgment 
and high authority of the Apostolic See. Writing to Leo, he 
says : " I await the sentence of the Apostolic See, and I im- 
plore and entreat your Holiness to succor me, who appeal to 
your righteous and just tribunal." He adds, that "this most 
Holy See has, on many accounts, the principality over all the 
churches throughout the universe."|| He asks a command to 
present himself at Rome, that he may there render an account 
of his faith. Leo recognised his orthodoxy, annulled the sen- 
tence pronounced against him, and restored him to his see. 
" Blessed be our God," says he in a letter addressed to Theodo- 
ret, " whose invincible truth, according to the judgment of the 

ry, and to deprive them of holy communion for six months. (L. xiii., ep. xlv.) 
On this case, in conjunction with another, a modern Protestant remarks : 
" The power of the Papacy in Spain was so real, that in 603 two Spanish 
bishops, Januarius of Malaga and Stephen, having been irregularly deposed, 
Gregory the Great sent a commissary, named John, with orders to investi- 
gate the matter ; and without assembling any Council, without looking 
for the assent of the Spanish clergy, John declared the deposition irregu- 
lar, annulled it, and reinstated the two bishops, thus exercising the acts of the 
most extensive supremacy." — Guizot, Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. iii., p. 66. 

* Leo., ep. xliv., Ball, edit., col. 915, Liberatus, cap. xii. 

f Ep. xliv. et xlv. J Ep. xiii. 

§ Church History, p. 2, c. v., p. 152. Note. 

|j Ep. cxiii., ad Leon. Also ep. cxvi., inter lit. Theodoret. 



APPEALS. 



247 



Apostolic See, has shown you to be clear of all taint of here- 
sy."* When the bishop presented himself at the Council of 
Chalcedon, he was hailed by the fathers : " Let the most reve- 
rend Bishop Theodoret enter in, to partake in the proceedings 
of the Synod, since the most holy Archbishop Leo has restored 
to him the bishopric. "f In the course of the proceedings, the 
formal action of the Council was asked, that he might be put 
into actual possession of his see, conformably to the pontifical 
decree, or, as the acts express it, " that he might receive his 
church, as the most holy Archbishop Leo has judged."J The 
bishops with acclamation assented : " Theodoret is worthy of 
his see." " Leo has judged conformably to the Divine judg- 
ment.'^ 

John Talaja was raised to the See of Alexandria, in the de- 
cline of the fifth century. Acacius, the heretical Bishop of 
Constantinople, contrived to draw down on him the anger of 
the Emperor Zeno, who banished him from his see, and substi- 
tuted Peter Mongus in his place. Calendion, Bishop of An- 
tioch, whither he fled, advised him to seek redress from the 
Bishop of Rome, to whom he gave him letters of recommen- 
dation. Liberatus, a writer of the sixth century, relates that 
" having got letters of intercession from Calendion, Patriarch of 
Antioch, he appealed to the Roman Pontiff, as the blessed Atha- 
nasius had done."|| Simplicius, recognising the justice of his 
cause, used all his influence to procure his restoration to his 
see, since the pontifical decree for that purpose could not be 
executed without the imperial concurrence ; and his succes- 
sor, Felix III., finding the obstacles insuperable, gave him the 
administration of Nola, a bishopric in Italy, without taking 
from him his title of patriarch. A priest named Solomon, de- 
graded by Acacius, Bishop of Constantinople, appealed to the 
same Pontiff, who wrote to the clergy of that city, instructing 
them to treat him as a brother. 

Barrow, the professed enemy of the papacy, admits nume- 
rous cases of appeal : " Thus did Marcion go to Rome, and 
sue for communion there. So Fortunatus and Felicissimus, in 
St. Cyprian, being condemned in Africk, did fly to Rome for 



* Ep. cxx., Ball, edit., col. 1226. f Act. i. 

X Act. viii. • § Ibidem. 

|| Breviarium controversiarum Nestorianae et Eutychianse, c. xviii. 



248 



APPEALS. 



shelter, of which absurdity St. Cyprian doth so complain.* So 
likewise Martianus and Basilides, in St. Cyprian, being ousted 
of their sees, for having lapsed from the Christian profession, 
did fly to Stephen for succor to be restored. So Maximus (the 
Cynic) went to Rome to get a confirmation of his election at 
Constantinople. So Marcellus, being rejected for heterodoxy, 
went thither to get attestation to his orthodoxy, (of which St. 
Basil complaineth).f So Apiarius, being condemned in Africk 
for his crimes, did appeal to Rome. And on the other side, 
Athanasius being with great partiality condemned by the Sy- 
nod of Tyre ; Paulus and other bishops being extruded from 
their sees for orthodoxy ; St. Chrysostom being condemned and 
expelled by Theophilus and his accomplices ; Plavianus being 
deposed by Dioscorus, and the Ephesine Synod ; Theodoret be- 
ing condemned by the same, — did cry out for help from Rome. 
Chelidonius, Bishop of Besancon, being deposed by Hilarius of 
Aries, (for crimes,) did fly to Pope Leo. Ignatius, Patriarch of 
Constantinople, being extruded from his see by Photius, did 
complain to the Pope."J 

The authority of the Holy See to receive appeals, from any 
quarter of the Church, was strongly asserted by Gelasius, at 
the close of the fifth century, when answering the objection of 
Euphemius, Bishop of Constantinople, who alleged that Aca- 
cius was uncanonically condemned, because no Council had 
been summoned to investigate his case, as its importance 
seemed to demand : "They object to us the canons, which they 
violate, whilst they refuse to obey the first see, that asks no- 
thing of them but what is just and right. The canons direct 
that appeals of the whole Church should be made to this see, 
and no appeal should lie from it, so that it should judge the 
whole Church, and itself be judged by none, and no one should 
revise its judgments."^ It is not probable that language so 
strong would have been used by the Pontiff to the Bishop of the 
imperial city, if it admitted of contradiction. To the Bishops 
of Dardania he wrote : " The whole Church, throughout the 
world, knows that the See of blessed Peter the apostle has the 
right to loose what has been bound by the sentences of any 
bishops, since it has power to judge every church."|| 

* This has been explained, p. 223. f See p. 232. 

J Suppos. v., n. 12. § Apud Fleury, 1. xxx., § xxviii. 

|| Ep. viL, ad episcopos Dardaniae, anno 495, t. ii., coll. Hard. coll. 909. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



" THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND." 

§ 1. Britons. 

The special interest attached at present to the " Church of Eng- 
land/' may justify a distinct review of the relations of the an- 
cient Britons and of the Anglo-Saxons to the Holy See. The 
existence of Christianity in Britain in the decline of the second 
century is known from the testimonies of Tertullian,* Origen,f 
and Arnobius ; J which correspond with the statement made by 
Bede, doubtless on the authority of ancient documents or tradi- 
tion, that in the time of the Emperor Aurelius, Lucius, a Brit- 
ish king, sent to Eleutherius, Bishop of Rome, to ask for instruc- 
tors in the Christian law.§ The attempt of Dr. Burgess to as- 
cribe the origin of the British churches to St. Paul, is wholly 
unsupported by proof, and purely visionary. |j In the absence 
of evidence, we cannot say positively how the succession of 
bishops was provided for, from the first arrival of those whom 
Eleutherius despatched to Lucius ; but it was no doubt accord- 
ing to some plan made originally with pontifical sanction. 
It is not improbable, that the British churches may have been 
immediately dependent for ordination on the See of Aries, 
whose bishop, from very ancient times, was clothed with the 
powers of Vicar Apostolic ; especially as the civil prefect of 
Gaul embraced Britain in the sphere of his jurisdiction. Au- 
gustin received episcopal consecration from that prelate. The 
Bishops of London, York and Lincoln, were present at the 

, * Adv. Judaeos, p. 189. | Horn, vi., in Luc, c. i. 

X In Ps. cxlvii. § L. i., Hist. Eccl. Angl. 

|| See its complete refutation in the History and Antiquities of the Anglo- 
Saxon Church, by John Lingard, D.D., vol. i., app. a. London, 1845. I 
avail myself freely of this valuable work. 



250 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



Council of Aries in 314, in which a splendid testimony was 
rendered to the primacy, and others intervened in the Council 
of Sardica, so justly celebrated for its decrees regarding ap- 
peals to the Pontiff. The language of the synodical letter to 
Pope Julius is most explicit : " It will be seen to be best and 
most proper, if the bishops from each particular province re- 
port to their head, that is, to the See of Peter, the apostle."* 
This duty of reporting the state of the local churches plainly 
implies power and authority on the part of the Pontiff to judge 
and to decree what may be advisable for the correction of 
abuses and advancement of piety. There were also three 
prelates of the same nation at Rimini, whose poverty obliged 
them to avail themselves of the provision made by the empe- 
ror for their support, whilst in attendance, f The communion 
of the British bishops with the Holy See is evident from their 
presence in the two former Councils. In the last they shared 
the misfortune of the other prelates, who were beguiled by the 
artifices of the Arians. 

The exercise of the pontifical authority in Britain for the ex- 
tirpation of the Pelagian heresy, is attested by an unexcep- 
tionable witness, St. Prosper, a native of Gaul, contemporary 
with St. Germanus and afterwards secretary of Pope Celestine: 
" At the instance of the deacon Palladius, Pope Celestine sends 
Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, in his own stead, in order that 
he might drive out the heretics, and guide the Britons to the 
Catholic faith." J Elsewhere he says : " With no less solicitude 
he freed Britain from this disease, when he banished from that 
remote island certain enemies of grace, natives of the country, 
and having ordained a bishop for the Scots (Irish), whilst he 
labors to preserve a Roman island in the Catholic faith, he 
made even a barbarous island Christian."§ Britain is here 
called Roman, because subjected by the Roman arms ; whilst 
Ireland is styled barbarian, as being beyond the limits of the 
empire. The enthusiasm with which Germanus and Lupus 
of Troyes, his companion, were received by the Britons, and 
the success of their mission, prove that the authority of the 
Roman Bishop, in whose name they appeared, was fully recog- 
nised. Constantius, a priest of Lyons, who ' wrote the Life of 

* Labbe, cone, ii., 690. f Sulp. Sev., Hist., p. 401. 

% In chronico ad an. 429. § Contra Cassian, c. xli. 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND/ 



251 



St. Germanus, about fifty or sixty years after the event, has 
related their mission in detail, as also Venerable Bede in con- 
formity with the tradition and monuments of the British 
churches. The discipline of the Britons became subsequently 
relaxed, and their ecclesiastical position was scarcely discerni- 
ble, after the separation of their island from the empire : but 
a glimpse is afforded us by Gildas, a British author, who 
wrote about the middle of the sixth century, and who com- 
plains of the ambition of some clergymen, who traversed lands 
and seas for its gratification, and on their return made parade 
of their authority. This plainly has reference to Rome, as the 
source of ecclesiastical dignity.* The succession of their 
bishops was maintained down to the time of Augustin, the 
missionary despatched to England by St. Gregory the Great, at 
the close of that century. Those who assert the original in- 
dependence of the British churches, and their autocephalous 
character, forget their Roman origin, the concurrence of their 
prelates to Councils in which the prerogatives of the Holy See 
were distinctly recognised, and the interposition of Pope Celes- 
tine to extirpate the heresy of Pelagius, through his envoy 
Germanus. Our ignorance of the arrangement by which the 
succession of bishops was provided for, does not warrant any 
inference adverse to the primacy, since any mode originally 
sanctioned by the Pontiff was a sufficient exercise of his right ; 
and the fact that they continued in his communion proves that 
the system had received his approbation. In the Council of 
Ephesus the Bishops of the island of Cyprus contended against 
the claims of the Patriarch of Antioch to control their ordina- 
tions, on the ground of their having performed them from the 
beginning without his interference : which fact being contro- 
verted, the fathers of the Council confined themselves to a ge- 
neral decree, that the ancient usages and privileges of the va- 
rious churches should be respected : but this case, although 
frequently alleged in support of British independence, is not 
of any advantage, as long as the fact of the Britons having 
exercised a free power of ordination, without recourse to Rome, 
is not established. Were it, however, conceded that the Bri- 
tish ordinations were performed without any reference to the 
Pope or his Vicar, it would only show that the freedom of the 



* Hist. Gild., p. 76. 



252 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



Britons on this point should be respected, unless most weighty 
reasons required a change of system, which as Patriarch, and 
still more as Pontiff, the Bishop of Rome might enjoin. If re- 
laxation and immorality ensued from this "domestic ordination" 
and partial independence, the great interests of religion, which 
far outweigh ecclesiastical privileges, would authorize the 
chief pastor, who is charged with the care of all the churches, 
to interpose, and reserve to himself the choice or approbation 
of those who thenceforward would be raised to the responsible 
office of bishops. Whatever may have been the usage in this 
respect, it is wrong to infer from it the entire independence of 
the Britons from the Roman See, since the enjoyment of spe- 
cial privilege does not necessarily imply exemption from all 
authority. 

Mr. Allies, with his usual candor, confesses that the idea of 
the absolute independence of any local church is inconsistent 
with the unity which must characterize the Universal Church. 
" There can be no independence, strictly so called, in the 
Church and body of Christ."* 

The asserted independence of the British churches is sup- 
ported by a document first produced by Spelman in the year 
1639,f purporting to be an address of the Abbot Dinoth, on 
behalf of the British bishops, to Augustin, the missionary of 
Gregory the Great, who urged them to submit to him as vested 
by the Pope with the powers of archbishop. It is unnecessary 
to expose in detail the reasons for regarding it as a forgery, 
especially as Fuller, the Protestant historian, abandons its 
defence : " let it shift as it can for its authenticalness." J After 
a feeble effort to account for a glaring anachronism, he is 
compelled by its modern phraseology to make this avowal : 
" A late Papist much impugneth the credit of this manuscript 
(as made since the dayes of King Henry the Eighth), and 
cavilleth at the Welsh thereof as modern and full of false 
spelling. He need not have used so much violence to wrest 
it out of our hands, who can part with it without considerable 
losse to ourselves, or gain to our adversaries ; for it is but a 
breviate, or abstract of those passages which in Bede, ; and 

* Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 120. 
f Spelman, Cone., t. i., p. 108. 

| The Church History of Britain Endeavored, by Thomas Fuller. Lon- 
don, 1656. P. 61. 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



253 



other authours, appear most true, of the British refusing sub- 
jection to the See of Rome. Whilest, therefore, the chapter 
is canonicall, it matters not if the contents be apochrypa (as 
the additions of some wel-meaning scribe). And though this 
Welsh be far later than the days of Abbot Dinoth, and the 
English later than the Welsh ; yet the Latin, as ancienter than 
both,* containeth nothing contrary to the sense of all authours, 
which write this intercourse between Augustine and the 
Welsh nation." The forgery of this document was detected 
by Tuberville, and is now generally admitted, as Dr. Lingard 
testifies. - )- 

It is untrue that the document in question harmonizes with 
the statements of Bede, " the only real authority which we 
possess." He does not say a word of any pretensions of the 
Britons to independence of Rome, but merely that they re- 
fused to acknowledge Augustin for their archbishop, because 
he did not rise to receive them as they approached, which a 
hermit had taught them to look on as a token of an imperious 
and domineering temper.J The apprehension of the severity 
of his government is the only cause assigned for their de- 
clining to recognise him. This refusal is easily reconcilable 
with the abstract admission of the power of the Pontiff in 
whose name he appeared, since men are slow to admit a 
painful exercise of authority, even which they profess to 
revere. Pope Gregory, however, had not made the consent of 
the Britons a necessary condition for the assumption of me- 
tropolitan rights by his envoy, but in the consciousness of the 
power with which he was clothed by divine appointment, he 
bade him to use them freely for the interests of piety : " We 
commit the care of all the British bishops to you, brother, 
that the unlearned may be instructed, the weak strengthened 
by advice, and the perverse corrected with authority."^ 

§ 2. Anglo-Saxon Church. 

It is quite unnecessary to discuss more fully the question of 
the independence of the British churches, since the Church of 

* Spelman says that he added it for the use of foreigners : it was not in 
the manuscript. 

f Anglo-Saxon Ghureh, vol. i., p. 71. Note. % Bede, 1. ii., Hist., c. ii. 
$ Ep. lxiv. 

16 



'254 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



the Anglo-Saxons was a purely papal creation, being founded, 
organized, and fostered by the Popes. Augustin, the envoy of 
Gregory, acted in all things by his direction, and with entire 
dependence on him. When he failed to conciliate the Britons, 
abandoning them to the punishments which their disorders 
called down from heaven, he foretold that the sword of the ene- 
my would execute the divine judgments on them, as took place 
after his death. In the meantime he pursued his apostolic 
mission among the Anglo-Saxons, and succeeded in laying the 
foundations of that illustrious edifice which afterwards rose 
in fair proportions, with the admiration of the Catholic world. 
He fixed his See in Canterbury, and Gregory, in sending him 
the pallium, the emblem of metropolitan power, admonished 
him that he must not on this account consider himself as 
authorized to encroach on the jurisdiction of the bishops of 
Gaul, his power being limited to the British prelates. " We 
give you no authority over the bishops of Gaul, because from 
the ancient times of my predecessors, the Bishop of Aries re- 
ceived the pallium, whom we must not deprive of the authority 
with which he is invested."* " Your brotherhood," says the 
Apostolic mandate, " will, moreover, have subject to you not 
only the bishops whom you or the Bishop of York may ordain, 
but all the bishops of Britain, by authority of our God, and 
Lord Jesus Christ, that from your instruction they may learn 
to believe correctly, and from your example to live religious- 

iy."t 

The establishment of this new hierarchy superseded the 
British prelates, and took away all pretext for relying on their 
privileges, which were certainly not communicated to their 
rivals. For above a century the ancient order of bishops was 
continued, but with entire separation from the new line de- 
rived from Augustin, so that even as late as the days of Bede, 
the Britons had as lieve communicate with pagans, as with 
the Anglo-Saxon Christians. J Dr. Lingard confidently affirms, 
in contradiction to Mr. Soames, " that not a single county, 
from London to Edinburgh, can point to the ancient Church of 
Britain as its nursing mother in the faith of Christ."§ 

* Ep. lxiv. f Bed., 1. i., c. xxix. 

J Bede, Eccl. Hist., 1. ii., c. xx. 

§ History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ch. i., p. 43. Note, 
Second English edition. 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



255 



St. Aidan, an Irish monk, was the apostle of Northumbria, 
and other of his countrymen preached the Gospel with success 
in various parts of England : but the Roman origin of the 
Anglo-Saxon Church and hierarchy was in no degree affected 
by the co-operation of these missionaries, since Ireland itself 
traces her Christian privileges to Patrick, the companion of 
Palladius, ordained by Pope Celestine for the Scoti, according 
to the testimony of Prosper. 

§ 3. Paschal Controversy. 

The Britons, as well as the Irish, differed from Rome in the 
calculation of the paschal time, through ignorance of the cor- 
rect mode, adopted at a period more recent than the mission 
of the apostles of either nation. They were not, however, 
Quartodecimans, as those were styled who celebrated Easter 
on the same day as the Jews. The tenacity with which they 
adhered to the method prescribed to them by the early mis- 
sionaries, was an occasion of some controversy, which, never- 
theless, had no serious results. It is in vain alleged as evi- 
dence, that both islands had originally received the faith from 
Oriental missionaries, since their mode of calculation w r as 
different even from that which was used in the East, and they 
invariably celebrated the feast on Sunday, contrary to the 
practice of those who imitated the Jewish solemnity. The 
day of their festival was calculated according to the C3 r cle 
used by the Roman Church before the Council of Nice.* The 
dissension of the Roman and Irish missionaries on this point, 
led Oswiu, King of Northumbria, to summon them to his 
presence, in order to ascertain the grounds on which each 
relied. Wilfrid, the chaplain of Prince Alchfrid, seeing that 
Colman, the Bishop of Lindisfarne, placed the strength of the 
Irish cause on the authority of St. Columba, insisted that the 
usage sanctioned by the apostle Peter, on whom the Lord 
founded His Church, and to whom He gave the keys of His 
kingdom, should prevail. The king, having questioned Col- 
man as to the high prerogative of the apostle, obtained a will- 
ing acknowledgment of it, and put an end to the discussion by 
declaring his desire to enjoy the favor of the gate-keeper oi 
heaven. The narrative of this interesting debate, which is 



This is certified of the Scots by Goodall, ad Hist. Scot., introd. p. 66. 



256 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



given by Venerable Bede,* shows that the authority of the 
prince of the apostles was fully recognised by both parties. 
The adherence of the Irish missionaries to the custom of their 
ancestors in a matter of discipline, is no evidence of opposi- 
tion to the teaching of the Roman Church, or of estrangement 
from her communion, since, whilst condemning the Quartode- 
cimans, who retained the Jewish festival-day, she tolerated 
those who merely differed in the mode of calculation. St. 
Columban, who with great vehemence defended the Irish 
usage, without becoming deference to the Pontiff whom he 
addressed, rendered, in the same letter, unequivocal homage to 
the authority of the Holy See. Those of the South of Ireland 
yielded to the admonition of Pope Honorius,f and the North- 
erns not long afterwards conformed to the Roman usage. The 
Britons persisted in their ancient practice the more pertina- 
ciously, because the Anglo-Saxons, whom they held in detes- 
tation, observed the festival on a different day. The contro- 
versy was rather chronological than theological, as Dr. Lin- 
gard well observes. 

§ 4. Anglo-Saxon Hierarchy, 

The plan of the Anglo-Saxon hierarchy was traced out by 
the hand of Gregory. He authorized Augustin to consecrate 
twelve bishops, of whom the Bishop of London should have 
the pallium, and be consecrated by his own Synod, that is, be 
chosen by his suffragans, and consecrated by one of them, 
with the assistance of two others, which, however, was dis- 
pensed with when impracticable. The Bishop of York should 
have power to consecrate twelve bishops, over whom he had 
the authority of metropolitan, although he was subject to Can- 
terbury, and, according to seniority, preceded or followed the 
Bishop of London. J The changes which took place in the 
civil governments, prevented the execution of this plan, 
which was modified by the Popes Vitalian and Agatho. The 
latter, by the authority of the blessed Peter, prince of the 
apostles,§ determined and decreed that there should be only 

* L. iii., Hist., c. xxv., xxvi. f I* ii«> Hist., c. xix., 1. iii., c. iii. 
% Ep. lxv. 

§ " Ex auctoritate beati Petri apostolorum principis — definimus et statui- 
mus, ut unumquoque regnum in Britannia insula institutum habeat secundum 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.' 



257 



twelve bishops in the whole island, under the government of 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, "decorated for the time by the 
Holy See with the honor of the pallium." Egbert, Bishop of 
York, succeeded in recovering the ancient dignity of his see 
from Gregory III., who sent him the badge of metropolitan.* 
The See of Lichfield was erected into an archbishopric in 
787, by the authority of Pope Adrian, who sent the pallium to 
its prelate, at the urgent solicitation of Offa, king of Mercia. 
CcBnuJf, who subsequently occupied the throne, in seeking the 
revocation of this measure, protested unqualified submission to 
the decrees of the Pontiff, " which no Christian dares gain- 
say ; " but at the same time declared that the statements of Offa 
were not founded in truth and justice. Accordingly, Leo III. 
rescinded the act of his predecessor, and restored to Canter- 
bury its ancient rights over all the other bishops. ^Ethelheard, 
the archbishop, who had pleaded his cause successfully at the 
Roman court, on his return, published the apostolical decision 
in the Council of Cloveshoe, and made enactments in accord- 
ance with it, with the consent and permission of the Pontiff. 
Thus the supremacy of the Holy See was exercised in the 
most unequivocal manner in the original organization of the 
Anglo-Saxon Church, and its subsequent modification. The 
Protestant professor of history, Guizot, might well say to his 
pupils : " As to the Anglo-Saxon Church, you know that 
having been founded by the Popes themselves, it was placed 
from the commencement under their most direct influence."! 

The successors of Augustin in the See of Canterbury, like 
him, received from the Pontiff the pallium, as the necessary 
token of his sanction for the exercise of metropolitan autho- 
rity. Justinus obtained it from St. Boniface V., and Honorius 
from his namesake, who then occupied the Holy See. Pauli- 
nus, of York, received it from the latter Pontiff. So essential 
was it deemed, that Eanbald, who had been consecrated Bishop, 
as coadjutor to Archbishop iElbert, with right of succession, 
did not omit, on his death, in 780, to despatch Alcuin to Rome 
to obtain it, after which he was solemnly inaugurated. His 
successor, of the same name, awaited a year for its reception, 

moderationis mensuiam episcopos ita statutos," &c. — Labbe, torn, vii., 601. 
Spelman, Cone. 159. 

* Chron. Sax., an. 735. Malm, de Pont.,1. iii., p. 153. 

t Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. iii., p. 67. 



258 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



on which he was confirmed archbishop. iElfsy, of Winches- 
ter, archbishop elect, died on his journey to Rome, which he 
had undertaken to procure for himself the pallium. In the 
ninth century, the indulgence of the Holy See, which previously 
spared the archbishop elect the necessity of travelling to Rome 
to obtain it, was withdrawn, so that each had to seek it in 
person, to testify more solemnly his dependence on the chair of 
St. Peter. 

Aldred, Bishop of Worcester, aspiring to the See of York, in 
the year 1059, repaired to Rome, in company of Gison, Bishop 
elect of Wells, and Walter, elect of Hereford. These latter 
two prelates, being unexceptionable, received consecration 
from the hands of the Pontiff, who declined, nevertheless, to 
promote Aldred, against whom a charge of simony had been 
advanced. The disappointed prelate had scarcely left the city, 
when, falling into the hands of brigands, he was despoiled and 
forced to return. His misfortune accomplished what his un- 
worthiness had prevented, and the Pontiff consented that he 
should pass to the See of York, on relinquishing the other dio- 
cese. Two cardinals went to England, probably to see that 
this should be faithfully executed, and having approved of 
Wulstan to fill the vacant bishopric, assisted at his consecra- 
tion. 

Lanfranc, Archbishop elect of Canterbury, going to Rome, in 
the year 1071, for the pallium, readily obtained it, with extra- 
ordinary marks of honor and affection, from Alexander II., who 
had been his pupil. The Pontiff gave him the very pallium 
which he himself was wont to use in the celebration of mass, 
besides another, such as was granted to every metropolitan. 

Several of the occupants of the See of Canterbury were 
consecrated by the Popes themselves. On the death of Wig- 
hard, archbishop elect, who had come to Rome for consecra- 
tion, Pope Vitalian, in 668, chose Theodore, a Greek monk, to 
fill his place, and having consecrated him with his own hands, 
despatched him to govern the Anglo-Saxon Church. Five cen- 
turies afterwards, Alexander II. consecrated for the same see, 
Richard, Prior of Dover, at the solicitation of Henry II., who 
had implored the Pontiff not to regard the pretensions of his 
revolted son, who sought to fill the churches with his crea- 
tures and supporters. 

The Metropolitan of Canterbury was accustomed to receive 



" THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



259 



the powers of Apostolic Vicar. Gregory II., writing to the 
bishops of England respecting Tatwine, the second in succes- 
sion from Theodore, says : " We have authorized him to act in 
our stead in all things in that country." Formosus speaks in 
like manner of Plegmund.* Pope John addressed St. Dunstan 
to the same effect, in conformity with the usages of his prede- 
cessors. In 1117, Henry I. solicited Paschal II. to relieve his 
kingdom from the necessity of receiving papal legates, alleg- 
ing that, by the concession of Gregory the Great, the Archbi- 
shop of Canterbury was invested with legatine powers. The 
Pontiff called for documentary proof of the concession. Celes- 
tine III., in 1194, constituted Hubert of Canterbury his legate. 
In the contest about privileges between the Sees of York and 
Canterbury, the whole question turned on the pontifical grants, 
which were preserved with great care in the archives of each 
church, as its most valid titles. Lanfranc, in his report to 
Alexander II. of the proceedings in this case, observes : " For 
the final strength and support of the whole case, the privileges 
and writings of your predecessors, Gregory, Boniface, Hono- 
rius, Vitalian, Sergius, also of another Gregory, and of the last 
Leo, were produced, which had been given or transmitted at 
various times to the prelates of the Church of Canterbury, and 
to the English kings."f 

§ 5. Acknowledgment of the Primacy. 

The terms in which Bede, and all the Anglo-Saxon writers, 
speak of St. Peter, and of the Bishops of Rome, are such as 
ieave no room to question their faith in the divine institution 
of the primacy, and its perpetual duration for the government 
of the entire Church. The venerable historian says that Gre- 
gory " was invested with the first (that is, supreme) pontificate 
in the whole world, and was set over the churches converted 
to the true faith." J Alcuin avowed that "the Lord Jesus 
Christ had constituted Peter shepherd of His chosen flock ;"§ 
and acknowledges Adrian, the actual Pontiff, as " Vicar of Pe- 
ter, occupying his chair, and inheriting his wonderful autho- 

* Dr. Lingard, on the authority of Eadmer, defends the authenticity of 
this letter. Vol. i., p. 89. 

t Apud Baron., an. 1072, p. 409. 

X Bede, Hist., ii., c. i. § Ale. Oper., 1. 65, 134. 



260 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



rity."* Huelbert, Abbot of Wearmouth, addressed Gregory 
as "divinely intrusted with the government of the whole 
Church."f The Bishops of Rome were even designated pre- 
lates of the world.J In the Anglo-Saxon pontifical a prayer 
is contained peculiar to the consecration of the sovereign Pon- 
tiff, which expresses in the strongest terms the eminence and 
authority of his station : " This Thy servant, whom Thou hast 
made prelate of the Apostolic See, and primate of all priests 
in the world, and teacher of Thy universal Church, and whom 
Thou hast chosen for the ministry of the high priesthood."§ 

By order of Pope Agatho, a Council was held at Hatfield, by 
Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, and his suffragans, in 
presence of John, Abbot of St. Martin's, deputy of the Holy 
See, to declare the faith of the Anglo-Saxons, and subscribe 
the doctrinal definition of Martin I. against Monothelism: 
which desire of the Pontiff was religiously complied with. 

In a Council held at Cloveshoe, in the middle of the eighth 
century, at which Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, opened 
the assembly by the lecture of two writings, received " from 
the apostolic lord, the Pontiff held in reverence by the whole 
world, the Pope Zachary, which, as he by his apostolical autho- 
rity had commanded, were first read openly in Latin, and then 
in an English translation. In these he admonished the Anglo- 
Saxon inhabitants of this island of Britain, expostulated with 
them, and conjured them ; and then threatened to cut off from 
the communion of the Church all who should despise his warn- 
ing and obstinately persist in their wickedness."|| Their first 
canon, directed to the reformation of their own order, was 
avowedly made to prevent the execution of this threat. Yet 
there have been some writers so ingenious as to discover evi- 
dence of the independence of the Anglo-Saxon Church in the 
decrees of this Council ! 

The legates of Adrian visited England during the adminis- 
tration of Jaenbyrct, Archbishop of Canterbury, bringing with 
them from the Holy See canons for the reformation of morals : 
which, in an amended form, were read and adopted in two 

* Ad Adrian Oper., 1. 25. f Apud Bed., op. Min. 159, 329. 

t Eddius, Vit. Wilf., c. v., p. 45. 

§ Pont. Egb., p. 32. Pont. Gemet., p. 41. 

|| Wilkins, cone. 94. Spelman, cone. 245. 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



261 



Councils, with solemn promise of obedience on the part of the 
prelates. 

The authority of the Holy See was also manifested in the 
deposition of Anglo-Saxon bishops. The legates of Alexander 
II. deposed the Bishop of Litchfield, who retired to a monas- 
tery.* Celestine HE, on complaints made against Godfrey, 
Archbishop of York, brother of King Richard, commissioned 
the Bishop of Lincoln, with others, to take cognizance of the 
case, authorizing them to suspend him from the government of 
his diocess, if he were found guilty. The Pontiff himself, sub- 
sequently, pronounced the suspension.! 

The Holy See was recognised in England as a high court of 
appeal, to which bishops, oppressed by unjust judgments of 
their colleagues, might have recourse, with confidence of ob- 
taining redress. In 664, Wilfrid was chosen Bishop of North- 
umbria : but thirteen years afterwards, Theodore, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, without his knowledge, consecrated three bi- 
shops for his territory, which he thought proper to divide into 
separate dioceses. The injured prelate, by the advice of his 
colleagues, appealed to the Pontiff against the judgment and 
act of the metropolitan, and repaired to Rome to prosecute 
his appeal in person. Ccenwald, a monk, appeared there in 
behalf of Theodore, and the parties urged their reasons before 
a Council summoned by Pope Agatho for the trial of the cause. 
The judgment of the Pontiff decreed that Wilfrid should be re- 
instated in his bishopric, under penalty of excommunication to 
be incurred by the archbishp and King Egfrid, at whose in- 
stance he had acted. The division of the diocese was, how- 
ever, insisted on, but the choice of the new prelates was left to 
Wilfrid. The violence and intrigues of the monarch prevent- 
ed, during several years, his return to his diocese, although the 
archbishop himself urged the necessity of obeying the pontifi- 
cal decree. Aldfrid, who succeeded Egfrid, in 685, restored to 
him the See of York and the monastery of Ripon, but after- 
wards, under threats of vengeance, sought to force him to 
make the latter the see of a new bishop. The affrighted pre- 
late fled into the dominions of the King of Mercia, and during 
nine years remained an exile from his see, until Brithwald, the 
successor of Theodore, invited him to attend a Council. In this 



* Baron., an. 1095. 



f Ibidem, an. 1159. 



262 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



assembly he was urged to resign, but again lie appealed to the 
just tribunal of the Roman Pontiff. After hearing the agent of 
the metropolitan, and the Bishop, in a tedious trial, John VI. 
pronounced judgment in favor of Wilfrid. The king, however, 
for a time resisted the execution of the sentence, alleging that 
he had been previously condemned by the metropolitan, by the 
envoy of the Apostolic See, and by almost all the bishops of 
Britain : but in a few weeks being overtaken by death, he de- 
clared his wish to be reconciled with the injured prelate. After 
his death the dissension was amicably terminated to the satis- 
faction of all parties. " It has been often said," remarks Dr. 
Lingard, " that the great object of Wilfrid was to establish in 
Northumbria the authority of Rome : but it must be evident to 
every reader, that he found the authority of Rome already es- 
tablished, and had recourse to it only to protect himself from 
oppression. The result proved the utility of this supreme ju- 
risdiction claimed by the Pontiff : for we read no more, from 
the time of Wilfrid till the reign of Edward the Confessor, of 
any arbitrary deposition of bishops at the will either of the 
king or of the metropolitan."* 

It may gratify the reader to peruse the quaint statement of 
this case by a Protestant historian. Speaking of the solicita- 
tions to resign, made to Wilfrid by the Council, Fuller says : " In 
a Council convened for the purpose, the bishops endeavored in 
vain to induce him to resign. Wilfride persisted loyall to his 
own innocence, affirming such a cession might be interpreted 
a confession of his guiltinesse, and appealed from that Council 
to his Ilolinesse, and this tough old man, being seventy years 
of age, took a journey to Rome, there to tugg it out with his 
adversaries. . . . The sentence of Pope John the Seventh pass- 
ed on his side, and his opposers were sent home with blame and 
shame, whilst Wilfride returned with honour, managing his 
successe with much moderation ; equally commendable, that 
his innocence kept him from drooping in affliction, and his hu- 
mility from insulting in prosperity. Bertuald, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, humbly entertained the Pope's letters in behalf of 
Wilfride, and welcomed his person at his return : but Alfride, 

* History and Antiquities, &c. , ch. iii. The reader will find there, and in 
the appendix, the full statement of the facts, and the refutation of modern 
misrepresentations. 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



263 



king of Northumberland, refused to re-seat him in his bishop- 
rick, stoutly maintaining, that 'twas against reason to com- 
municate with a man twice condemned by the Council of Eng- 
land, notwithstanding all apostolick commands in favor of him. 
But soon after he fell dangerously sick, a consequent of, and 
therefore caused by his former stubbornnesse ; as those that 
construe all events to the advantage of the Roman See, inter- 
pret this a punishment on his obstinacy. Suppled with sick- 
nesse, he confessed his fault ; and so Wilfride was restored to 
his place."* Thus the king finally yielded to the authority of 
Rome, and put her judgment in execution. The right of the 
Pope to receive appeals, and grant relief, was acknowledged 
in England, as in every other part of Christendom. 

§ 6. Modern Church of England. 

Mr. Allies in vain attempts to plead the apology of " the 
Church of England " on the ground of the patriarchal system : 
" Whatever ecclesiastical constitution we still have ourselves," 
he writes, " is a part of this system. And by reference to, and 
under cover of this, which if not strictly of divine right, as is 
the high priesthood of bishops, approaches very nearly indeed 
to it, and was the effluence of the Spirit of God ruling and 
guiding the Church of the fathers, we must justify ourselves 
from the damning blot of schism. "f Alas ! for the justification 
which is equally destitute of principle and facts to support it. 
The patriarchal system, although venerable and apostolic, pre- 
supposes the primacy, which was divinely instituted, and which 
was destined to survive any conventional modification of 
church government. But even by that system, " the Church 
of England " stands condemned, since she refuses obedience to 
the Roman Patriarch, whose jurisdiction she had acknowledg- 
ed up to the moment that a licentious prince forced her to ab- 
jure it : " Henry the Eighth fixing his supremacy on a reluc- 
tant church by the axe, the gibbet, the stake, and laws of pre- 
munire and forfeiture.''^ In vain does Mr. Allies assert that 
the refusal to admit that the Pope is universal bishop is the 
head and front of her offence ; for she is not called on to admit 

* The Church History of Britain Endeavored, by Thomas Fuller. Lon- 
don, 1656. Century viii., book ii., p. 93. 
f Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 54. % Ibidem, p. 172. 



264 



" THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



a title which the Pontiffs have never assumed, or to adopt any 
theory about the extent of pontifical prerogative, but simply to 
admit the primacy, as defined by the Council of Florence, and 
to place herself in that position which she occupied from the 
time when Augustin founded and organized her. The worthy 
apologist has in reality abandoned the cause which he took on 
him to defend : " If the charge were that we refuse to stand in 
the same relation to the Pope that St. Augustin of Canterbury 
stood in to this very St. Gregory, that we refuse to regard and 
honor the successor of St. Gregory with the same honor with 
which our archbishops, as soon as they were seated in the go- 
vernment of their church, and were no longer mere missiona- 
ries, but primates, regarded the occupants of St. Peter's See, I 
think both the separation three hundred years ago, and the pre- 
sent continuance of it on our part, would, so far as this ques- 
tion of schism is concerned, be utterly indefensible."* 

Mr. Palmer is equally unfortunate in his vindication of the 
Church of England. He observes, that the clergy qualified 
the admission of the royal supremacy-)- by the very important 
clause : " as far as it was consistent with the law of Christ 
but he forgets that this was in 1531, at the commencement of 
the changes, and that soon afterwards they pledged themselves 
" on the word of a priest" to obey the king in spiritual matters. J 
It is not an unfounded assertion that the papal power was 
transferred to the king, which Mr. Palmer says was merely 
suppressed : for by the 25 Henry VIII., c. 19, the right of ap- 
peal from the sentence of metropolitans, which previously lay 
to the Pontiff, was granted " to the king's majesty, in the king's 
Court of Chancery," to be heard " by such persons as shall be 
named by the king's highness." " This statute," Mr. Lewis re- 
marks, " is the origin of the court of delegates, which has lately 
made way for the judicial committee of the privy council, in 
which resides, now, the supreme jurisdiction of the Anglican 
Church."§ Mr. Palmer strangely confounds this recourse to 
the king, as supreme head on earth, with the usage, or rather 

* Church of England Cleared, &c, p. 194. 

f Treatise on the Church, vol. i., p. ii., ch. iii. 

$ See Act of Submission in Wilkins, iii., 754, 755. 

5 Notes on the Nature and Extent of the Royal Supremacy in the Angli- 
can Church, by David Lewis, M.A. — of which valuable essay I shall avail 
myself freely. 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



abuse, which exists in some countries, of invoking the protec- 
tion of the State against alleged encroachments of the ecclesi- 
astical authority. Uappel d'abus, is in itself an enormous 
abuse, from which no sanction can be derived for the still more 
unjustifiable practice of appeal to the royal tribunal as su- 
preme in all causes, ecclesiastical as well as civil. The papal 
power in regard to the appointment of bishops, was abrogated 
by the same act, c. 20, and declared to belong to the king, who, 
by his conge oVelire, determined the choice of the electors, un- 
der severe penalties, and by the grant of the pallium confer- 
red metropolitical authority. Dispensations hitherto had from 
Rome were, by c. 21, to be sought from the archbishop, and in 
extraordinary cases the king's license became necessary. The 
spiritual prelates were authorized by this statute to use, minis- 
ter, execute, and do all sacraments, sacramentals, and divine 
service. By the statute 26 Henry VIII., c. 1, the king, as " only 
supreme head in earth of the Church of England," was declar- 
ed to have all pre-eminences, jurisdictions, privileges, authori- 
ties to the said dignity belonging, and especially full power to 
repress, correct and amend all heresies and abuses which by 
any manner, spiritual authority or jurisdiction, ought to be re- 
pressed, corrected or amended." Mr. Palmer explains this of 
" temporal means and penalties in concurrence with the judg- 
ment of the Church of England," but betrays his want of con- 
fidence in this interpretation by observing : " The bishops un- 
derstood it in some such sense, for they not only offered no op- 
position to the passing of this bill, but immediately after swore 
to the king's supremacy." This only shows that they meanly 
crouched at the feet of the tyrant. The appointment of Tho- 
mas Cromwell, a layman, to be Vicar General of the king, 
" sounded ill," according to the apologist, and there was full 
evidence that it was intended in a heterodox sense, since he 
was empowered to correct archbishops and bishops, to summon 
Synods, and preside in them, to excommunicate, and to use his 
authority in all causes touching the ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 
The servility of Cranmer in seeking from the boy Edward a 
renewal of his jurisdiction, and the acknowledgment of the 
other bishops that all jurisdiction, both ecclesiastical and civil, 
flows from the royal power,* leaves no room for the subtleties 



* Wilkins iii., 797, 798. 



266 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND/ 



of Mr. Palmer. " Authority of jurisdiction, spiritual and tem- 
poral," says the statute of 1 Edward VIIL, c. 2, " is derived 
and deducted from the king's majesty, as supreme head of 
these churches and realms of England and Ireland." Although 
Elizabeth disavowed her right to administer the sacraments, 
she persisted in claiming the powers exercised by her father 
and brother, as is evident from the following enactment : 
" Such jurisdictions, privileges, superiorities and pre-eminences, 
spiritual and ecclesiastical, as by any spiritual or ecclesiasti- 
cal power or authority, hath heretofore been, or may law- 
fully be, exercised or used for the visitation of the ecclesiasti- 
cal state and persons, and for reformation, order and correction 
of the same, and all manner of errors, heresies, schisms, abuses, 
offences, contempts and enormities, shall forever, by authority 
of this present parliament, be united and annexed to the im- 
perial crown of this realm."* 

The acts of Elizabeth prove that her royal supremacy was 
not an empty name. She issued her commission June 24th, 
1559, to certain laymen, with one doctor in divinity, to visit 
several dioceses tarn in capite quam in membris, giving them 
power to deprive the bishops. She undertook to place Mat- 
thew Parker in the See of Canterbury, " supplying, by her 
supreme authority," any defects or impediments to his ordi- 
nation, and then declaring it valid by the agency of her ob- 
sequious parliament. In him she laid the foundation of a new 
fabric, which she herself modelled and constructed, " the 
Church by law established," which subsists to this day. Mr. 
Lewis observes : " The civil power abolished the papal juris- 
diction, and established the royal supremacy in its place ; the 
Anglican Church adopted the work of the State, binding 
itself by oath at the most solemn time, in the reigns of Henry 
VIIL and Edward VI. Twice it approved deliberately of the 
acts of Elizabeth, and at this day, in the 36th Article of her 
religion, acknowledges the legislation of Henry and Edward 
not to be superstitious and ungodly."f Truly has the rejec- 
tion of the shepherd whom Christ appointed resulted in weak- 
ness and in shame. J A " human Church " has been erected 

* 1 Eliz., c. i. f Notes on the Royal Supremacy, p. 95. 

| See " The Anglican Church, the Creature and Slave of the State," by 
Rev. Peter Cooper. 



"THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND." 



267 



on the ruins of the magnificent fabric which Gregory planned, 
Augustin founded, and his successors constructed. Bishops 
of royal creation have knelt in homage to the power from 
which their jurisdiction flowed : and a boy or a girl, a bold 
woman or a brutal man, has controlled functions which are 
connected with the immortal destinies of mankind. The 
words of the prophet have been fulfilled : " Dabo pueros 
principes eorum, mulieres dominatse sunt eis."* 

Has not the time arrived when a nation, so enlightened and 
illustrious, will look back to the source from which she origi- 
nally derived the knowledge of Christianity, and fulfil, as far 
as regards herself, the almost prophetic words of her erratic 
poet ? 

Parent of our religion ! whom the wide 
Nations have knelt to for the keys of heaven ! 
Europe, repentant of her parricide, 

Shall yet 

sue to be forgiven. f 

* Isaias iii. 4, 12. f Byron, Childe Harold, canto iv. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



The chief prerogatives of the Pontiff may be gathered 
from the facts and documents which have been submitted to 
the reader. They are almost exclusively drawn from the first 
six ages of the Church, and are, consequently, not open to the 
objection of those who complain that by means of the false 
decretals of Isidore, which first appeared in the ninth cen- 
tury, the papal power was immeasurably enlarged. I have 
purposely avoided all reference to this compilation, in order 
to furnish no pretext for questioning the authorities on which 
I rely, or the extent of prerogative which I vindicate. Al- 
though the materials out of which the decretals were con- 
structed are of far greater antiquity, being for the most part 
taken from ancient decrees of the Popes, or of Councils, or 
from the Caesarean laws, or the writings of the fathers, I 
willingly forego all advantage to be derived from them, and 
confine myself to documents unquestionably authentic. Some 
have rashly charged the Popes with originating this impos- 
ture, with a view to the enlargement of their prerogatives : 
but the learned trace its origin to Mentz in Germany, and 
allow that the extension of papal power was not the primary 
object of the compiler. " It was not in fact," says Guizot, 
" compiled for the exclusive interest of the Popedom. It ap- 
pears rather on the whole, according to the primitive inten- 
tion, more especially destined to serve the bishops against the 
metropolitans and temporal sovereigns."* The imposture con- 
sisted in giving the decrees an undue antiquity, and a different 
author, by ascribing them to the Popes of the first three ages. 
The success of the fraud is accounted for by the fact, that the 



Cows d'Histoire Moderne, t. iii., p. 84. 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



269 



received discipline was the basis of the arrangement, and 
scarcely any innovation was introduced abhorrent to general 
usage. Had they been brought forward to sanction novel and 
exorbitant pretensions, their authenticity would scarcely have 
escaped question, even in an unenlightened age. It is absurd 
to trace the prerogatives of the Holy See to these false de- 
cretals, whilst unquestionable documents of far higher anti- 
quity plainly establish them. 

The primacy extends to the entire world, since the commis- 
sion given to the apostles is to teach all nations, and preach 
the Gospel to every creature : but none are subject to it who 
have not by baptism entered within the pale of the Church. 
It is called by St. Chrysostom " the presidency of the univer- 
sal Church,"* which, he observes, Christ committed to Peter, 
after his fall. In virtue of his office, the Pontiff teaches with 
authority, and directs his teaching to all the children of the 
Church, wherever they may be found, pastors and people : he 
pronounces judgment on all, whose faith is suspected, to what- 
ever rank they belong : he condemns heresy, wherever it may 
have originated, or by whomsoever it may be supported : he 
calls on his colleagues, the bishops, to concur in the condem- 
nation: he assembles them in Council, to investigate and 
judge with him the controversies that are raised, or to concur 
by their harmonious judgment and action in rooting out con- 
demned errors : he confirms and promulgates their definitions 
of faith, and he incessantly guards the sacred deposit of di- 
vine doctrine. All these acts have been performed in all ages 
of the Church by the Bishop of Rome, as successor of St. 
Peter: and have been universally acknowledged to be the 
prerogatives and duties of his office. " The Lord," says St. 
Leo, " wished this mysterious gift {of the Gospel ministry) to 
belong to the office of all the apostles in such a way as to 
place it principally in the most blessed Peter, the chief of all 
the apostles: from whom, as from the head, he wishes his 
gifts to flow to the whole body, so that whoever dares recede 
from the solidity of Peter, must know that he deprives him- 
self of all share in the divine mystery. For assuming him 
to a partnership in His indivisible unity, He wished him to be 

* Ttjv iitiQiazioAi irfi OLxovfAevixrrf zxxhrjouxs iv£#£tptc>£. Ad pop. Antioch. 
horn, v., de poenit. 

17 



270 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



styled what He Himself was, saying : 4 Thou art Peter, and 
on this rock I will build My Church that the building of the 
eternal temple, by a wonderful gift of divine grace, should 
rest on the solidity of Peter, strengthening His Church by this 
firmness, that neither human temerity can affect it, nor the 
gates of hell prevail against it. This most sacred firmness 
of this rock, which has been established, God Himself, as we 
have said, being the Builder, is assailed with impious pre- 
sumption by whosoever attempts to infringe on his power, 
following passion, and abandoning the tradition of the an- 
cients."* 

It is the undoubted right of the Pope to pronounce judgment 
on controversies of faith. All doctrinal definitions already 
made by General Councils, or by former Pontiffs, are land- 
marks which no man can remove ; but as the human mind 
may assail revelation in endless varieties of form, there must 
be always in the Church an authority by which error, under 
every new aspect, may be effectually condemned. Nothing 
can be added to the faith originally delivered to the saints ; 
but points contained in the deposit of revelation, may be 
expressly declared and defined, when the obscurity which 
may have existed as to the fact of their revelation has been 
dissipated. The assembling of a General Council is always 
attended with immense difficulty, and . is oftentimes utterly 
impracticable. The chief Bishop is " the natural organ of the 
Church,"f as Peter is styled by St. Chrysostom the mouth of 
the apostles. In pronouncing judgment, he does not give ex- 
pression to a private opinion, or follow his own conjectures ; 
but he takes for his rule the public and general faith, and 
tradition of the Church, as gathered from Scripture, the 
fathers, the liturgies and other documents ; imploring the 
guidance of the Divine Spirit, and using all human means for 
ascertaining the fact of revelation. It has been warmly dis- 
puted whether a solemn judgment thus pronounced, wherein 
a doctrine is proposed to the Church generally as necessary to 
be believed, under pain of anathema, or'an error is proscribed 
as opposed to faith, with the same sanction, may possibly be 
erroneous. The personal fallibility of the Pope in his private 

* Ep. x., ad episc. per prov. Vien. 

f Thoughts arid Sights; in Foreign Churches, by Frederick W. Faber, 
This estimable writer has since passed to the Catholic communion. 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



271 



capacity, writing or speaking, is freely conceded by the most 
ardent advocates of papal prerogatives ; but his official in- 
fallibility, ex cathedra, is strongly affirmed by St. Alphonsus 
de Liguori, and a host of divines, in accordance, as I be- 
lieve, with ancient tradition, and the general sentiment of 
the Church. The assembly of the French clergy in 1682 
contended that his judgment may admit of amendment, as 
long as it is not sustained by the assent and adhesion of the 
great body of bishops. Practically there is no room for dif- 
ficulty, since all solemn judgments hitherto pronounced by 
the Pontiff have received the assent of his colleagues ; and, 
in the contingency of a new definition, it should be pre- 
sumed by the faithful at large that it is correct, as long as the 
body of bishops do not remonstrate and oppose it. The Pon- 
tiff never has been isolated from his brethren. The harmony 
of faith has been always exhibited in the teaching of the epis- 
copal body, united with their head. The authority of the 
Pope in matters of faith appeared most conspicuously in the 
fourth and fifth centuries. The decrees of Damasus, and 
Innocent, and the doctrinal letters of Celestine and Leo, were 
hailed by bishops, severally, and in solemn Councils, as the 
correct expositions of the mysteries of the Trinity and Incar- 
nation. For the maintenance of this faith the Pontiffs sent 
legates to the Eastern emperors and Councils, urging it above 
all other things. Their indefatigable industry, their untiring- 
solicitude, their disregard of every selfish consideration, when 
the integrity of faith was in question, are marked on every 
page of history. Faith evidently is the vital principle of 
papal authority, which cannot cease to defend it. 

The plenitude of pontifical power in all that appertains to 
the government of the universal Church is affirmed in the 
Florentine decree. It is certain that this power must be used 
for edification, not for destruction : for the interests of faith 
and piety ; for the maintenance of order and unity ; in a word, 
for the good of the Church. It is a government of justice, 
order, and law, to be conducted, not arbitrarily and capri- 
ciously, but according to established canons, or rules. It ad- 
mits, however, of exceptions and dispensations, since the 
rigorous enforcement of uniformity, in a government embracing 
so many different nations, would render it intolerable. Whilst, 
then, the papal authority should be exercised in conformity 
with the canons or laws of general Councils and preceding 



272 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



Pontiffs, unless the altered condition of things require a change 
of legislation, a dispensing power must exist, and be exercised 
by the Supreme Executive. Individuals, for a just reason, 
may be freed from the observance of a general law, at the 
discretion of the Pontiff. The ancient usages of local churches 
are to be respected, and their established order is to be main- 
tained ; but if the higher interests of the universal Church 
require the suppression of a local usage, or if the existence of 
the local Church be in jeopardy, unless the order be changed, 
there is room for the exercise of pontifical supremacy. The 
French hierarchy had flourished from the days of St. Remi- 
gius, when the fury of the revolutionists immolated several of 
the venerable prelates, and drove the remainder into banish- 
ment. The temples of religion were profaned, and the Chris- 
tian worship proscribed. Amidst the anarchy there arose a 
daring soldier, who, in the name of liberty, grasped an iron 
sceptre, and offered to become the protector of religion on con- 
dition that the exiled prelates should renounce their rights, 
and the Church of France should be re-organized conformably 
with the new civil divisions of territory. Pius VII. called on 
the bishops to make the sacrifice of their undoubted rights and 
just attachments, and using the plenitude of his authority, 
stripped those who hesitated of all claims to their sees, and 
gave to France a new ecclesiastical organization.* The ex- 
treme necessity of the case justified, in the eyes of the Church 
at large, this unprecedented act of pontifical supremacy. 

It is difficult to assign precise limits to a power which must 
be adapted to the exigencies of the Church in an endless 
variety of circumstances. No authority can command any- 
thing immoral. The hackneyed misrepresentation of the hypo- 
thetical argument of Bellarmine deserves to be noticed only 
to guard the unsuspecting against gross deception. This emi- 
nent controvertist, maintaining the official infallibility of the 
Pope, extends it to decrees regarding morals, since an error 
in moral principle would imply an error in faith itself, and 
expose the Church at large, in obeying her head, to a practical 
absurdity and defilement. It is agreed by moralists, that in 
matters which are doubtful, the presumption is in favor of the 
superior, and obedience is consequently due, when what is 

* See Bulls Ecclesia Christi, 15 Aug., 1801, and Qui Christi Domini^ 29 
Nov r . 1801. 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



273 



ordered is not manifestly wrong. Taking this moral principle 
as the basis of his reasoning, Bellarmine constructs on it an 
hypothetical argument in favor of pontifical infallibility in 
moral matters ; imitating mathematicians, who, from the ab- 
surdity of a consequence, infer the falsehood of an hypothesis, 
and thereby establish the truth of the opposite principle. " I 
prove," says he, " that the Pope cannot err in morals intrinsi- 
cally good or evil, for the Church could not, in that case, be 
truly called holy ; — and besides, she would then necessarily 
err in faith : for Catholic faith teaches that all virtue is good, 
all vice is evil : but if the Pope should err in commanding 
vice, or forbidding virtue, the Church would be bound to be- 
lieve vice to be good, virtue to be evil, unless she chose to sin 
against conscience : for in doubtful matters the Church is 
bound to acquiesce in the judgment of the sovereign Pontiff, 
and to do what he orders, and to avoid what he forbids ; and 
in order not to act against conscience, she is bound to believe 
that to be good which he orders, that to be evil which he for- 
bids."* All may not acquiesce in the correctness of the rea- 
soning, but no one can seriously pretend that Bellarmine 
alleged that virtue or vice was dependent on the caprice of 
the Pontiff. It is remarkable that no decree ever issued from 
the papal chair sanctioning any immoral principle : whilst on 
the contrar} r , the rash propositions in moral matters which 
were hazarded by some divines, were sifted by the Popes with 
nice discrimination, and condemned, whether they favored 
relaxation of morals, or affected a severity not compatible 
with the mild maxims of the Gospel. It was not the learning 
or the wisdom of the individual Pontiffs that enabled them to 
steer the vessel of the Church through rocks and shoals, on 
which the wisest and most learned men had made shipwreck : 
it was the overruling providence of God which directed their 
judgment. Even Voltaire has acknowledged that their de- 

* " Quod autem non possit pontifex errare in moribus per se bonis vel ma- 

lis, probatur. Nam tunc ecclesia non posset vere dici sancta Secundo, 

quia tunc necessario erraret etiam circa fidem. Nam fides Catholica docet 
omnem virtutem esse bonam, omne vitium esse malum : si autem papa erraret 
praecipiendo vitia, vel prohibendo virtutes ; teneretur ecclesia credere vitia 
esse bona et virtutes malas, nisi vellet contra conscientiam peccare. Tene- 
tur enim in rebus dubiis ecclesia acquiescere judicio summi pontificis, et face- 
re quod ille praecipit, non facere quod ille prohibet : ac ne forte contra con- 
scientiam agat, tenetur credere bonum esse quod ille praecipit : malum quod 
ille prohibet." De Romano Pontifice, 1. iv., c. v. 



274 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



crees were always wise, and always advantageous to the 
Christian world, wherever their personal interests were not in 
question ; which are certainly not connected with decisions 
on abstract principles of morality. He pays this tribute to 
their authority, on occasion of their anathemas against the 
diabolical usage of duels.* The Pope may enjoin, in matters 
ecclesiastical, what he judges to be expedient for the main- 
tenance of order, the extirpation of vice, and the promotion 
of piety. His power is chiefly employed in maintaining the 
general laws already established, regulating the mutual rela- 
tions of the clergy, and mitigating the strictness of discipli- 
nary observance, whensoever local or individual causes 
demand it. The faithful are sufficiently protected against the 
abuse of power, by the freedom of their own conscience, 
which is not bound to yield obedience to authority when fla- 
grantly abused. The Pope only addresses conscience : his 
laws and censures are only powerful inasmuch as they are 
acknowledged to be passed under a divine sanction. No 
armies, or civil officers, are employed to give them effect ; and 
in case of flagrant abuse of authority, he loses the only in- 
fluence by which they can become effectual. f The fears 
which are sometimes expressed, that he will abuse his power 
to the detriment of national or individual rights, are wholly 
groundless. It is used to sustain right and justice, not to 
violate them: but in the event of a flagrant abuse, nations 
are secure in their own strength, and individuals in the 
freedom of their conscience. It is well observed by De 

* " Les decrets des papes, toujours sages, et de plus toujours utiles a la 
chretiente, dans ce qui ne concernait pas leurs interets personnels, anathema- 
tisaient ces combats." Essai sur l'Histoire Generale, t. iii., ch. cxvii. 
f Of Rome, Voltaire has written : 

" L'univers flechissait sous son aigle terrible : 
Elle exerce en nos jours un pouvoir plus paisible : 
Elle a su sous son joug asservir ses vainqueurs, 
Gouverner les esprits, et commander aux coeurs ; 
Ses avis sont ses lois, ses decrets sont ses armes." 

La Henriade, ch. iv» 

Once her proud eagle hovered o'er the world, 
But now her peaceful banner is unfurled ! 
The wild barbarians that o'erspread her lands 
Yield to her voice, — obey her meek commands. 
Their minds and hearts admit her sweet control, 
And she reigns Queen, by love, from pole to pole. 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



275 



Maistre, that whatever may be said in the abstract of the pleni- 
tude of pontifical power, any attempt to exercise it wantonly, 
would provoke general and successful resistance. "What," 
he asks, " can restrain the Pope ? " Everything — canons, 
laws, national usages, sovereigns, tribunals, national assem- 
blies, prescription, representations, negociations,duty, fear, pru- 
dence, and especially public opinion, the queen of the world."* 
The providing of pastors necessarily appertains to him to 
whom the charge of the whole flock has been entrusted by 
Christ our Lord : yet the exercise of this power admits of much 
variety, according to the circumstances of time and place, as 
is evident from ecclesiastical history. Whatever arrangement 
may be made for the election or appointment of bishops, with 
the concurrence and approbation of the Holy See, may be 
deemed just and proper. The bishops thus created are not, as 
I have already observed, mere deputies or vicars, much less 
vassals of the Pope ; but successors of the apostles, exercising 
under him and with him the powers of binding and loosing, 
and respecting his high rank without detriment to their own. 
Their order is perpetual, and their jurisdiction should not be 
capriciously withdrawn ; but if they abuse their power, they 
are amenable to his high tribunal. 

The relations of the Pope to a General Council of bishops have 
been the subject of much discussion. The right of summoning 
them to meet in solemn consultation for the general interests 
of the Church, manifestly belongs to him, as he is the only one 
whose authority extends to all ; but his acquiescence in the 
act of another who may have called them together, or in their 
spontaneous convention, is equivalent to his personal summons. 
The great Council of Nice was convened by Constantine, but 
according to the sixth general Council, Sylvester concurred in 
the convocation ;f the Emperor Theodosius in like manner, at 
the request of Damasus, convened the Oriental bishops at 
Constantinople.;]; Marcian, at the solicitation of Leo, sum- 
moned the Council of Chalcedon. The obvious reason of the 
intervention of the Emperors was because, according to the 
laws, no public assembly could then be held without the impe- 
rial mandate, which was, in this instance, accompanied with 
the privilege of the free use of the public vehicles. Since the 
Christian religion has extended far beyond the limits of the em- 



* Du Pape, ch. xviii. f Act. xviii. % Theod., 1. v., Hist, c. viii. 



276 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



pire, and the bishops live under various governments, there is 
no civil ruler whose mandate could ensure universal atten- 
dance ; but the voice of the Chief Pastor reaches to the most 
distant regions, and is respectfully heard by all his colleagues. 

The right of the Pontiff to preside in the assembly of his 
brethren, which results from the eminence of his station, is 
universally admitted. In the Eastern Councils it was exercised 
by legates, who, to whatever rank they belonged, even if only 
deacons, as representatives of the Chief Bishop, obtained pre- 
cedency of the highest prelates. In the Nicene Council, Vitus 
and Vincentius, priests of the Roman Church, legates of Syl- 
vester,* took precedency of the Patriarchs of Alexandria and 
Antioch ; and Osius, Bishop of Corduba, an obscure diocese in 
Spain, was honored in like manner, doubtless in his represen- 
tative capacity, which, although not declared in the acts now 
extant, is attested by Gelasius of Cyzicum, a Greek writer of 
the fifth century, and is fairly inferred from the fact, for which 
no other plausible reason can be furnished.f 

At Ephesus, Cyril of Alexandria presided, by special dele- 
gation of Celestine,J whose legates, sent directly from his side^ 
came with instructions not to mingle in the discussions, but to 
pronounce judgment. At Chalcedon, Paschasinus and Lucen- 
tius, most reverend bishops, and Boniface, a most religious 
priest, presided, " holding the place of the most holy and most 
beloved of God, Leo, Archbishop of ancient Rome."§ In the 
synodical letter of the fathers to Leo, they say, that he presided 
over them, in the persons of his legates, " as the head over the 
members." The fathers of the fifth Council earnestly besought 
Vigilius to preside over them,|| at their deliberations on " the 
three chapters," and having failed to induce him to be present,, 
they read his letter, permitting the examination, as their autho- 
rity for proceeding in his absence. Two priests and a deacon 
are mentioned in the sixth Council, at the head of all the bishops, 
as " holding the place of the most blessed and holy Archbishop 
of ancient Rome." The like is observable in the acts of the 
seventh and eighth Councils, in which the legates qualified 
their assent, by reserving to the Pontiff final judgment on the 
decrees. 

* Theod., 1. i., c. viii. f See Fleury, 1. xi., § v., Hist. Eccl. 

% Letter of Celestine to Cyril, c. xiii., Act. cone. Eph., col. 3123, Hard., t. L 

§ T. ii., Hard., p. ii., p. 64. || Collat. i., p. 62, col. Hard., t. iii. 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



277 



It was customary also to seek from the Roman Bishop the 
solemn confirmation of the decrees of the Council. As the 
Nicene acts are imperfect, and the first Council of Constanti- 
nople was not oecumenical in its original character, and the doc- 
trinal letter of Celestine which preceded the Council of Ephe- 
sus, was its guide in the proceedings, I shall at once refer to 
the synodical letter of the fathers of Chalcedon, in which they 
beseech the Pope to confirm their decree in favor of the Bishop 
of the imperial city : "We pray you to honor our judgment by 
your decrees; and as we have added the harmony of our assent 
to our head in what is good, so may your Holiness vouchsafe 
to supply to your children what is wanting." The Pope, ne- 
vertheless, felt it to be his duty to annul this decree as contrary 
to the ancient usages and rights of the patriarchs recognised 
at Nice. It is needless to exhibit in detail the proofs of the 
exercise of these prerogatives in the Western Councils, in seve- 
ral of which the Pope presided in person, and subsequently 
ratified their decrees by his solemn confirmation. The fathers 
of Trent acted in conformity with the examples of antiquity 
when they gave to the pontifical legates the presidency of 
their assembly, and at the close of their proceedings sought 
from the Pope the confirmation of their acts, whereby they 
might be recommended to the veneration and observance of 
all the churches. So far back as the fourth century it was an 
established usage, having the force of law, that no canonical 
enactment could be made without the intervention or sanction 
of the Roman Bishop.* 

I deem it unnecessary to pursue the inquiry into papal pre- 
rogatives in further detail, or to speculate on possible contin- 
gencies. In the convulsions of the Church at the period of the 
Council of Constance, when three pretenders claimed the keys, 
the assembled fathers deemed that they could do all things 
which might be necessary to restore unity and order. Nearly 
three centuries have elapsed since the last General Council, 
during which time the Church has been governed with wisdom 
and moderation, by a series of holy and enlightened Pontiffs. 
The heresy of Jansenius, and numberless kindred errors, have 
been condemned : the purity of Christian morals has been vin- 
dicated against relaxed casuists, and the sweetness of the yoke 
of Christ has been maintained, despite of the repulsive auste- 



* Sozomen, Hist., 1. iii., c. viii., x. Socrates, Hist, ii., ch. xvii. 



27S 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



rity of innovators : discipline has been enforced, or mitigated, 
as circumstances rendered expedient : and all things apper- 
taining to the government of the Universal Church have been 
regulated by the foresight, discretion, and zeal of the Roman 
Bishop. He has had the services and aid of enlightened coun- 
sellors, composing the various boards or congregations of car- 
dinals, to whose examination he commits the different matters 
on which he is to pronounce judgment ; he has also been se- 
conded and sustained by his colleagues throughout the world : 
but the Providence of God, as if to cut short the disputes of 
the schools, has suffered this long lapse of time to pass away 
without a General Council, as was also the case in the first 
three centuries of the Church. It seems to me superfluous, if 
not injurious, to discuss what power a Council may exercise in 
certain extraordinary circumstances, since the actual govern- 
ment of the Church is plainly in the hands of the Pontiff. If 
the object be to point out the limits of pontifical power, and 
the remedy for its abuse, there is but a faint hope in an assem- 
bly, the holding of which is generally of extreme difficulty, if 
not utterly impracticable. Our true security lies in the nature 
of the pontifical authority, which, being derived from Christ, 
is essentially just and paternal, and which ceases to bind the 
conscience, when it is flagrantly abused. Our hope is in the 
ever-watchful Providence which guards the Church, that the 
passions of men may not defeat the divine counsels. If in ca- 
lamitous circumstances an extraordinary remedy be necessary, 
the same Providence will apply it : but the discussion of the 
powers of an assembly convened at such a crisis, is, in my 
opinion, safely left to its members. 

It is not within my scope to explain in detail the power 
which the Pope exercises in pronouncing judgment on the 
sanctity of deceased servants of God, or in granting indul- 
gences, or in many like ways, as it has not been my intention 
to write a treatise with the precision of a canonist or scholas- 
tic divine. My object has been to give a just idea of the main 
exercise of pontifical authority. 

It is unnecessary to define the extent of papal prerogative 
in order to determine the necessity of admitting the primacy. 
If Christ has established a general governor of the Church in 
the person of Peter, his authority must be acknowledged such, 
as it is exercised and admitted by the Church herself. Divine 
Providence will not suffer its practical exhibition at any 



PAPAL PREROGATIVES. 



279 



period to differ essential^ from its original institution, so that 
if it be exercised with more or less amplitude in different ages, 
this must be ascribed to the change of circumstances, rather 
than to any substantial alteration in its character. The over- 
throw of the eastern patriarchal thrones by the Mussulman, 
rendered the intervention of the Bishop of Rome in the affairs 
of the East more direct and frequent than while they sub- 
sisted. The encroachments of the civil power made the Pon- 
tiffs more jealous of their prerogatives, and the abuses of 
privileges once enjoyed by the clergy and people, in the elec- 
tion of the prelates, caused their withdrawal. The Providence 
of God has always come to the aid of the Popes in their 
struggles for truth, and the liberty of the Church, and made 
their worst enemies instruments for the manifestation of the 
authority divinely entrusted to them. By loosening the ties 
which connected the Church with the State, under the ancient 
dynasty, her freedom in France has been greatly advanced, 
and sound views with regard to the papal power have been 
effectually diffused. Even the previous overthrow of the an- 
cient French hierarchy, so venerable and illustrious, the 
closing of the celebrated universities, and other calamitous 
events of the revolution, which threatened the extinction of 
Christianity, resulted in an exercise of pontifical authority, 
which, by a single act, decided a thousand vain disputes, and 
created a new order of things, in which the Chief Bishop and 
the French prelates are united by ties more intimate and not 
less sacred. Waiving all minor considerations, I shall invite 
the reader to fix his whole attention on the main controversy, 
since even Mr. Palmer remarks : " The doctrine of the pri- 
macy of the Bishop of Rome over the Universal Church, is the 
point on which all other controversies between the Roman 
and other churches turn : for if our Lord Jesus Christ insti- 
tuted any official supremacy of one bishop in the Catholic 
Church to endure always : and if this supremacy be inherited 
by the Bishop of Rome, it will readily follow that the Catholic 
Church is limited to those of the Roman obedience, so that 
the Councils, doctrines, and traditions of those churches are 
invested with the authority of the whole Christian world."* 

* A Treatise on the Church of Christ, hy Rev. William Palmer, M.A., part 
vii.,Yol. ii., p. 451. Americ. edit. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 

It is important to establish, beyond all contradiction, the 
fact that the present Bishop of Rome, by uninterrupted suc- 
cession, holds the place of Peter. We are aided in this un- 
dertaking by the labors of the venerable ancients, several of 
whom gave lists of the Roman Bishops from the apostle down 
to their own time. St. Irenaeus enumerated them as far as 
Eleutherius, who was still living when he wrote.* The 
historian Eusebius, availing himself of authentic documents, 
continued the series far on in the fourth century.f St. Optatus 
closed his list with the name of Siricius, who, in his day, oc- 
cupied the apostolic chair. J St. Augustin gave a similar 
catalogue, and challenged the Donatists to examine closely 
the order of succession : " Come to us, brethren, if you wish 
to be engrafted on the vine. We are afflicted in beholding 
you lying cut off from it. Count over the bishops from the 
very See of Peter, and see in that list of fathers, how one 
succeeded the other. This is the rock ag ainst which the proud 
gates of hell do not prevail." § Among the motives which 
retained him in the Church, this occupied a prominent place : 
" I am held," he says, " in the Catholic Church by the succes- 
sion of bishops from the very See of the apostle Peter, to whom 
our Lord, after His resurrection, intrusted His sheep to be fed, 
down to the present bishop."|| 

The schism of Novatian, who, after the death of Pope Fa- 
bian, in the year 253, set himself up in opposition to Cornelius, 
the lawful successor, served to mark more clearly the series 
of Pontiffs, and the authority with which they presided in the 

* L. iii., adv. hser. f Hist. Eccl., 1. iii., c. iv. 

X De Schism, Donat., 1. ii. § Ps. contra partem Donat. 
|| Contra ep. fundam. 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 281 

Church. In vain did the usurper, sending his partisans to 
Africa, and to the churches generally, " seek to draw into 
schism the members of Christ, and to divide and rend asunder 
the one body of the Catholic Church." They were told by St. 
Cyprian and his colleagues, that " it was impious to forsake 
their mother," and that " if they professed themselves follow- 
ers of the Gospel, and of Christ, they should return to the 
Church."* The letter of Cornelius, announcing his ordina- 
tion, according to ancient custom, was publicly read in the 
Church of Carthage, and letters were despatched by Cyprian, 
as primate of Africa, to the bishops of his province, in which 
they were admonished to write in reply, and send ambassadors 
to the Pontiff, as Cyprian himself had done.f The adherents 
of Novatian are represented by the African primate as " re- 
fusing the bosom and embrace of the root and matrix" by 
which terms he designates, not only in this passage, but fre- 
quently elsewhere, the local Church of Rome, from which, as 
from a root, the African churches had grown, and in which, 
as in the maternal womb, they had been conceived : figurative 
expressions which he applies to it in reference to the whole 
Catholic Church. The creation of a rival bishop, in the per- 
son of Novatian, is declared to be " contrary to the mystery 
originally delivered of the divine organization of the Church,J 
and of Catholic unity."§ Although this might be said, in a 
qualified sense, of any schismatical ordination, it manifestly 
implies, in the mind of Cyprian, a special divine ordinance in 
regard to the Bishop of Rome as centre of Catholic unity. 

The letter which the zeal of St. Cyprian led him to address 
to the schismatics, exhorting them " to return to their mother, 
that is, the Catholic Church," resulted in the conversion of 
several of them, who, in the most explicit terms, solemnly 
recognised the lawful Pontiff. " We know," said they, on 
occasion of their public reconciliation, " that Cornelius was 
chosen by God Almighty and Christ our Lord, Bishop of the 
most holy Catholic Church." We are not ignorant that there 
is one God, one Christ the Lord, whom we have confessed,|| 

* Cyprianus Cornelio, ep. i., inter Rom. Pont., ep. i., Coustant,t. i., col. 126. 
f Apud Coustant, ep. ii., t. i., col. 128. J " Divinae dispositions. " 
§ Ibidem, ep. iii., col. 131. 

H They had confessed Christ as Lord before the heathen tribunals. 



282 UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 

one Poly Spirit, and that there should be one bishop in the 
Catholic Church."* The obvious force of this language is such 
as to present to us Cornelius as Bishop' of the whole Church, 
since a local bishop could not be styled Bishop of the Catho- 
lic Church without qualification. St. Cyprian urges strongly 
the titles of the lawful Pontiff to veneration, and regards 
his opponents as cut off from the communion of the Church. 
" Cornelius," he remarks, " was made bishop according to the 
judgment of God, and of His Christ, according to the testimony 
of almost all the clergy ; and he was selected from the college 
of aged priests and good men, when no one had been ap- 
pointed before him ; and the place of Fabian, that is, the place 
of Peter, and the dignity of the priestly chair, was vacant, 
which place having been occupied according to the will of God, 
and he being supported therein by the consent of us all, who- 
soever now seeks to become bishop, must necessarily be with- 
out, nor can he who does not hold the unity of the Church 
have ecclesiastical ordination. Whosoever he be, though he 
vaunt himself, and put forward great claims, he is a profane 
man, a stranger, he is without. And since after the first there 
can be no second, whosoever was made bishop after the one 
who alone should be such, is not the second: he is no bishop."f 
This seems to imply a denial of the validity of the ordination, 
conformably to the opinion of Cyprian, in regard to sacra- 
ments administered out of unity : but what now concerns us, 
is, that Cornelius was believed to hold the place of Peter, and 
that his opponent was regarded as an alien from the Church. 
Thus, in the Providence of God, this schism has made more 
manifest the relation of the Bishop of Rome at that early 
period to the bishops of the Church generally, and has marked 
in the clearest characters his succession to the place of Peter. 

The intrusion of Felix, in the middle of the fourth century, 
into the Apostolic See during a year and three months, by the 
power of the Arian Emperor Constantius, who caused Libe- 
rius, the lawful Pope, to be dragged into exile, made no breach 
in the series, since the forced suspension of the pontifical ad- 
ministration did not take away the authority of the true Pon- 
tiff. Vigilius, in like manner, in the sixth century, through 
the influence of the Empress Theodora, for two years usurped 



Cornelius Cypriano. 



f Ad Antonian. 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 



283 



the place of Sylverius, after whose death he was recognised 
by the Church at large, having atoned for "his unlawful occu- 
pancy of the chair by the integrity with which he fulfilled its 
duties. No doubt as to the succession can be raised from the 
schismatic rivalry of the deacon Ursicinus, who, with armed 
satellites, opposed Damasus ; of the archdeacon Eulalius, who 
set himself up against Bonifacius ; of Caelius Laurentius, who 
disputed the election of Symmachus ; of the priests Theodore 
and Peter, who resisted the lawful claims of Conon ; of The- 
ophylactus, a layman, who by violence held possession of the 
See for thirteen months, to the prejudice of Paul ; of Zinzin- 
nus, the adversary of Eugenius. In all these cases, the lawful 
Pope prevailed over his opponents after a short struggle, and 
his rights were acknowledged by the universal Church. It is 
not to be wondered, that a station so exalted should attract 
the ambitious, whose elevation would naturally be resisted by 
the friends of religion. Hence it should be no matter of sur- 
prise that thirty instances of schism, on occasion of papal 
elections, are enumerated by Church historians : but thanks 
are due to the Providence which always guards the Church, 
that, in most instances, they were of short duration, and that 
eventually no doubt remained as to the legitimate successor 
of Peter. The fidelity with which they have been recorded, 
strengthens the evidence that the succession was maintained. 

The relations established between' the Popes and the em- 
perors of the West, afforded a pretext for imperial inter- 
ference, which often resulted in schisms of a more or less 
disastrous character: whilst the national jealousy of the Ro- 
mans, and the want of any permanent form of government, 
led sometimes to results equally to be deplored. In the middle 
of the ninth century, the Emperor Louis II. lent his authority 
to the priest Anastasius, in his aggressions on Benedict III., 
who, however, soon recovered his power. The close of the 
same century was disgraced by the struggles of Sergius, the 
deacon, against Pope Formosus, and of the anti-pope, styled 
Boniface VI., against Stephen VII. The opening of the tenth 
century witnessed the forced abdication^ of Leo V. to give 
place to Christopher, who in his turn was ejected by Sergius. 
The Emperor Otho I., intruded the anti-pope Leo VIII. to the 
prejudice of the rights of John XII. and of Benedict V., who, 
on the death of John, was chosen by the clergy and people of 



284 UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 

Rome. On the other hand, the imperial authority supported 
Gregory V., a lawful occupant of the See, whose right was 
disputed by John of Piacenza, aided by the Roman prefect 
Crescentius. St. Henry, the emperor, lent his aid to expel 
Gregory, whom the Romans intruded into the place of Bene- 
dict VIII. Three pretenders to the power of the keys ap- 
peared before the middle of the eleventh century, the right of 
Benedict IX., who was intruded into the chair by his father, 
the Count of Tusculum, being contested by Sylvester III. and 
John XX. A compromise of their claims, brought about by 
Gregory VI., terminated this unhappy struggle, and the abdi- 
cation of Gregory himself, whose pecuniary sacrifices to 
satisfy the contending parties, left his own election open to 
the charge of simony, led to a more permanent peace. A 
series of holy Pontiffs, of German origin, and elevated to the 
See of Peter through the influence or with the assent of the 
emperor, healed the wounds which disorderly intruders had 
inflicted on the Church ; but after the middle of the eleventh 
century, Mincius, Count of Tusculum, rose against Nicholas 

II. , the lawful Pontiff : and again, Cadolaus Pallavicini dis- 
puted the right of Alexander II. St. Gregory VII. had the 
affliction to witness the creation of an anti-pope, by the per- 
fidious Henry IV., without living to see his downfall ; yet the 
Church at large easily distinguished the series of lawful Pon- 
tiffs from the usurper, who, during twenty- one years, took the 
title of Bishop of Rome. Aginulph, styling himself Sylvester 

III. , pressed on the footsteps of the anti-pope Clement III., 
and Gregory VIII. (as Maurice Burdin styled himself) followed, 
supported by the Emperor Henry V. The submission of Vic- 
tor IV., the successor of the anti-pope Anacletus II., terminated 
a schism which had lasted eight years, during the pontificate 
of Innocent II. In a similar way, a schism which broke out 
under Alexander III., was happily extinguished by the sub- 
mission of Calixtus III., the successor of two anti-popes. Peter 
de Corbario, whom the Emperor Louis of Bavaria intruded 
into the Apostolic See, sought and obtained pardon of his 
usurpation from the lawful Pontiff, John XXII. In the last 
two schisms of this nature which afflicted the Church, the 
submission of each pretender put an end to all doubt : Cle- 
ment VIII. having implored pardon of Martin V., and Felix V. 
having yielded to Eugenius IV. During the last four hundred 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 285 

years, the Church has been free from this awful calamity. In 
all the instances, which I have rapidly reviewed, the succession 
was manifestly uninterrupted, because the schisms generally 
were of very short duration, and the pretensions of the usurp- 
ers were, for the most part, destitute of plausibility, resting 
chiefly on imperial power or factious violence, whilst the true 
Popes were easily discernible by the regularity of their elec- 
tion, and their unswerving devotedness to the great interests 
of religion. In cases of doubt, the final submission of the 
claimants to the authority of the Pontiff, recognised by the 
Church at large, or the extinction of the schism by the demise 
of the pretender, made manifest, beyond all contradiction, the 
true successor of Peter. 

The only case of apparent difficulty is the schism, which be- 
gan under Urban VI., towards the close of the fourteenth cen- 
tury, and continued about thirty-seven years. After the death 
of Gregory XL, fear being entertained that the cardinals, who 
were chiefly natives of France, would elect a Frenchman, and 
that he would establish his residence at Avignon, where a se- 
ries of French Popes had resided during seventy years, the Ro- 
mans surrounded the conclave, and with threats insisted that 
a Roman, or at least an Italian, should be chosen Pope. Un- 
der the apprehension of actual violence, the cardinals hasten- 
ed to bring their proceedings to a close, by electing the Arch- 
bishop of Bari, who assumed the name of Urban VI. What- 
ever objection existed to the election, as not having been made 
freely, seemed to be removed by the subsequent acquiescence 
of the cardinals, who, during four months, continued to ac- 
knowledge him, in public documents addressed to bishops 
throughout the world. However, at the expiration of that 
time, several of them fled from Rome, and under the pretext 
that the former election was null, they chose Robert, Count of 
Geneva, who assumed the name of Clement VII., and fixed his 
seat at Avignon. The opinions of men were divided, and the 
nations supported one or other of the claimants ; France, Cas- 
tile, and other countries, adhered to Clement, as the free choice 
of the electors ; whilst Germany, England, and other countries, 
acknowledged Urban, on account of the priority of his election, 
and its free ratification by the electors during a considerable 
time. It soon became difficult for the most conscientious and 
enlightened men to pronounce with certainty who was the 

18 



• 



286 UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 

lawful occupant of the apostolic chair. The death of the 
claimants, each of whom persisted in asserting his rights, did 
not terminate the contest : Benedict XIL, as Peter de Luna, 
the successor of Clement, was styled, sat at Avignon above 
twenty years, whilst Boniface IX., Innocent VIL, and Gregory 
XIL, continued the Roman series. To relieve the Church from 
the scandal of these conflicting pretensions, some cardinals of 
each obedience, or party, resolved on summoning a Council at 
Pisa, and requiring the two pretenders to submit their claims 
to the judgment of the assembled fathers : but neither would 
recognise the authority of this tribunal. The assembly, no- 
thing daunted by this denial of its competency, proceeded to 
depose both as guilty of contumacy, schism, and heresy, and 
elected Peter Filargo to the vacant chair, under the title of 
Alexander V. St. Antonine, and many others, deeming the 
proceedings utterU void, refused to recognise the new claim- 
ant, whose election served only to aggravate the evil. His 
death, after ten months, gave occasion to the election of Bal- 
thassar Cossa, under the name of John XXII. In order to ex- 
tinguish this dire schism, he summoned a General Council to 
be held at Constance, in which he himself was deposed. His 
acquiescence in the sentence put an end to all question as to 
the competency of his judges. Gregory XII. refused to recog- 
nise the legitimacy of the Council, as having been convened by 
a usurper of the Apostolic See, but consented to abdicate on 
the observance of some formalities, which served to save his 
pretensions. Neither threats nor persuasion could influence 
Peter de Luna, whom the Council at length deposed. The ge- 
neral acquiescence of all Christian nations in the election of 
Martin V., which ensued, left no room to question the legiti- 
macy of the proceedings, although the deposed pretender con- 
tinued to assert his claims, which, at his death, he charged the 
few cardinals who still adhered to him, to perpetuate. His 
successor, after four years, renounced his empty title, in order 
to enjoy the communion of the Pontiff whom the whole Church 
recognised. 

This long schism involves the succession of the Bishops of 
Rome in no doubt whatever. It may be doubted whether 
those who sat at Rome, or those who sat at Avignon, were the 
true successors of Peter ; although the judgment of the learn- 
ed generally seems to have decided in favor of the former : 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 



287 



s 

but there is no ground for questioning the fact of the succes- 
sion. Either series was certainly legitimate, and both having 
terminated, in the Council of Constance, in the election of Mar- 
tin V., he was the undoubted heir of the apostolic authority, 
through whichsoever channel it flowed.* 

The long absence of the Popes from Rome, during their 
stay at Avignon, which, like the captivity of Babylon, as 
the Romans sarcastically designate it, extended to about 
seventy years, affords no reason for questioning the succes- 
sion, because the authority of a bishop does not depend on 
his residence in his see. Those Pontiffs who resided at 
Avignon were truly Bishops of Rome, having been elected 
by the college of cardinals to fill the place of Peter. They 
governed that See by means of a Cardinal Vicar, whilst 
they personally applied themselves to the government of the 
universal Church. 

Simoniacal elections were declared by Julius II. to be alto- 
gether null, whose constitution on this subject is supposed to 
have been published in consequence of simony having occur- 
red in the election of his predecessor, Alexander VI. The 
terms of the decree, however stringent, cannot defeat the act 
of the Church by which she recognises the occupant of the pa- 
pal chair. Should the contemplated case unfortunately occur, 
the guilty individual must know that he cannot conscientiously 
exercise the papal power : which, however, is available to all 
who are not conscious of the radical vice of his election, or 
who, though conscious of it, are incompetent to remedy it. The 
acquiescence of the Church heals the defect as far as the faith- 

* I may be allowed, by way of illustration, to refer to a collision of claims 
between two courts in one of the United States, within my own remembrance. 
The Legislature of Kentucky, being displeased with the proceedings of one 
of the courts, (I believe the Court of Appeals,) passed an act for its re-organi- 
zation, in order by this summary proceeding to avoid the tardy and uncertain 
process of impeaching the judges. Accordingly, a new court was organized, 
in conformity with this law, and judges were appointed, who proceeded to 
take cognizance of suits brought before them. The judges of the old court 
considered that the new law was unconstitutional ; and, disregarding it, con- 
tinued in the exercise of their judicial power. For several years these rival 
tribunals existed, until, at length, a compromise was effected : yet no one will 
pretend that the conflicting claims destroyed the judiciary of the State, or the 
special court in question. 



288 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 



ful are concerned, although it does not relieve the delinquent 
from the necessity of abdicating the high office which he sacri- 
legiously assumed. 

The vacancies which have sometimes occurred in the Ro- 
man See, do not interfere with the succession, since, in the ge- 
neral opinion of mankind, they were not so protracted as to 
destroy the connexion of its incumbents. Some interval must 
necessarily elapse between the demise of one Pontiff and the 
election of his successor. The longest space which has been 
assigned to a papal interregnum is three years and eight 
months, after the death of Marcellinus ; which computation, 
however, is generally denied by the learned, who are of opi- 
nion that the longest vacancy was during two years and nine 
months, on the demise of Clement IV. Either period was not 
such an interruption in the long series of Pontiffs as to effect a 
moral separation in its connecting links. In reality, the inter- 
val was much less than it appears, because it was counted up 
to the day of the consecration of the new Pope, whose elec- 
tion long preceded it, when it was necessary to await the as- 
sent of the Eastern emperor. The Pope elect, aided by some 
of the clergy, was actually in the exercise of papal jurisdic- 
tion from the time of his election. 

The simplicity of some writers once gave currency to a ridi- 
culous fable, which even the Calvinist, Blondell, the skeptical 
Bayle, and the infidel Gibbon, have shown to be inconsistent 
with well-ascertained facts of history. In some interpolated 
copies of Marian Scotus, a writer of the eleventh century, it 
was stated, that an English female, in male attire, pursued 
her studies at the schools of Athens, and in process of time 
succeeded in being elevated to the papal chair, on the death of 
Leo IV. After two years five months and four days of ponti- 
fical administration, her sex is said to have been discovered by 
her being delivered of a child, in a solemn procession to the 
church of St. John of Lateran. This ill-concocted tale con- 
cerning Pope Joan, as she is styled, which is in itself incredi- 
ble, is totally irreconcilable with the statements of contempo- 
rary writers, who assure us that on the death of Leo IV., 
which took place on the 17th July, 855, Benedict III. " imme- 
diately" succeeded, who was consecrated on the 1st September 
of the same year. Gibbon acknowledges that " the contem- 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 289 

porary Anastasius indissolubly links the death of Leo and the 
elevation of Benedict." (Illico, mox.)* 

A ridiculous precaution is alleged to have been adopted 
against the recurrence of the imposture : but it is too indecent 
to allow me to specify it, so that I shall confine myself to the 
explanation of the real object of the ceremony to which allu- 
sion is made. From the year 1191, down to the time of Leo 
X., on occasion of taking possession of the basilic of St. John 
of Lateran, it was usual, among other ceremonies, to place 
the new Pontiff in front of the portico, on a porphyry chair, 
which, from the verse chaunted on the occasion, was popularly 
styled stercoraria : " Raising up the needy from the earth, and 
lifting up the poor out of the dunghill, that He may place him 
with princes, with the princes of His people." The object was 
evidently to inspire the Pontiff with becoming sentiments of 
humility, and to give praise to God for having raised him to 
the high dignity of prince and ruler in His Church. 

Although the fable of Pope Joan is now utterly exploded, 
some still refer to it for mere annoyance ; not reflecting that 
what could not take place in the Catholic Church, unless by 
an incredible combination of circumstances favorable to the 
imposture, has really been exhibited in the Church of England 
by law established, by a necessary consequence of the princi- 
ples broached on its separation from the See of Peter. The 
Sovereign for the time being, was proclaimed head of the 
Church throughout his dominions : but as if to put to shame 
the abettors of this sj^stem, God permitted, on the death of 
Henry VIII., the boy Edward to succeed him, who was followed 
by Ma^ and Elizabeth. The former queen hastened to divest 
herself of the title and authority which the law ascribed to 
her in ecclesiastical matters ; whilst Elizabeth unblushingly 
asserted her supremacy, and struck terror into the bishops of 
her own creation.f When she was informed by her prime mi- 
nister that the professors at Lambeth had pronounced a theo- 
logical censure on certain propositions concerning free-will and 

* Decline and Fall, ch. xlix., A.D. 800-10G0. 

f " Ve aqui una cosa admirabile. Al mismo tiempo que los Protestantes se 
esforzaban a insultarnos con la disparatada especie de una Papisa, elegida en 
Roma, ellos erigieron otra Papisa en Inglaterra, constituyendo cabeza de la 
Iglesia Anglicana a su adorada Rcyna." Cartas Eruditas por D. Fr. Benito 
G. Feyjoo, t. v., c. iii., p. UC. 



290 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 



predestination, she called Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
to her presence, and with bitter irony intimated to him the le- 
gal penalties to which his connivance at this encroachment on 
her royal prerogative subjected him. ** Whitgift," said she, " I 
hear that you are amassing great wealth for my use. The 
archbishop replied, that his wealth was not great, but that all 
he possessed was at her Majesty's service. She resumed : you 
fancy that you speak as a dutiful subject : but I maintain that 
all you have is already mine, by the law of the land, since you 
have incurred prcemunire. The prelate pleaded that the Lam- 
beth professors had not meant to pronounce a decision, but 
that they had merely declared a theological opinion ; which, 
however, in order to appease the sovereign, he promised to 
suppress."* She suspended Archbishop Grindall from the exer- 
cise of his jurisdiction, and threatened to make examples of 
bishops who should neglect to suppress certain religious exer- 
cises. Such was her jealousy of any interference with her 
rights as head of the Church. 

The unbroken succession of the Bishops of Rome is a fact 
the most unquestionable, which is supported by direct and col- 
lateral evidence, and is manifest from the continued exercise 
of the pontifical authority. No difficulties that may be raised 
in regard to interregnums, rival claimants, or intruders, can 
create a doubt as to the public exercise of power in every age 
by the Bishop of Rome as successor of Peter. The continu- 
ance of the succession is a moral miracle, which may well be 
reckoned among the most splendid evidences of Christianity. 
Dynasties have succeeded one to another on the thrones of 
powerful empires and kingdoms ; which themselves also have 
passed away: republics have perished from the conflicting ele- 
ments within them : yet the See of Peter remains, and an heir 
of his authority is always found, whether taken from low es- 
tate, or of noble parentage. The numberless internal causes 
of dissolution, and violence from without, do not affect its con- 
tinuance. The city may be trodden down by the barbarian 
conqueror, and the Pontiff may perish, but there is a vitality 
in the See that renders its destruction impossible. Those in- 
quirers who now stand at the portals of the Church, perplexed 
and embarrassed, should say to themselves with Augustin : 



Art. Lambeth. Hist. 



UNBROKEN SUCCESSION OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME. 291 

" Shall we hesitate to take refuge in the bosom of that Church 
which from the Apostolic See, through the succession of 
bishops, even by the acknowledgment of mankind generally, 
has obtained supreme authority, heretics raging around in vain, 
condemned as they have been, partly by the judgment of the 
people themselves, partly by the authority of Councils, partly 
also by the splendor of miracles? To reject her authority 
is truly either the height of impiety, or desperate presump- 
tion."* 

* De util. cred., c.vii. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



PAPAL ELECTION. 

§ 1. Imperial Interposition. 

No authority in sacred things was ever acknowledged by the 
Church to reside in the emperor, even when a Christian, al- 
though he was sometimes implored to sustain, by the civil arm, 
the rights of lawful prelates against ambitious and disorderly 
men, who endangered or violated public tranquillity. In this 
sense princes are styled by the holy Council of Trent protectors 
of the Church. The Council of Aquileja besought the Empe- 
rors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, to use their autho- 
rity, and prevent Ursicinus from disturbing Damasus, the legi- 
timate occupant of the See of Peter.* Eulalius, having am- 
bitiously set himself up in opposition to Boniface, the lawful 
Pope, the Emperor Honorius, on the report of Symmachus, or- 
dered Boniface to be banished from the city ; but on receiving 
from the Roman clergy a correct statement of the facts, and 
being informed of the return of Eulalius, contrary to his com- 
mand, he supported the rights of Boniface. To provide for 
public tranquillity, he decreed, that in case of a contested elec- 
tion, both candidates should be banished from the city.f This 
law is said to have been enacted in consequence of an applica- 
tion made by Boniface himself, for some measure to prevent 
tumults. 

Odoacer, king of the Heruli, having in 476 established him- 
self king of Italy, on the death of Simplicius in 483, alleged 
that the deceased Pontiff had agreed that the Prefect, in the 
name of the king, should be present at the election of his suc- 
cessor ; but the claim was resisted by the clergy, and the con- 
cession disregarded as a nullity. Symmachus, chosen Pope in 

* Cone. Aquil. ep.,t. i., cone. Hard., col. 837. f Ibid., col. 1237. 



PAPAL ELECTION. 



293 



498, forbad all laymen, even of royal dignity, to interfere in the 
election ; yet Theodoric, king of Italy, in 526, forced Felix IV. 
on the Roman clergy and senate, who reluctantly acquiesced, 
on condition that the ancient freedom of election should be 
thenceforward inviolable. The royal assent or confirmation 
of the election was, however, to be sought, which was to fol- 
low as a matter of course, if the proceedings were regular. 
King Athalaric, successor of Theodoric, required the payment 
of 3000 crowns of gold on the occasion. 

On the extinction of the Gothic power in Italy in 553, the 
Emperor Justinian exercised the same prerogative of confirm- 
ing the election, in the person of Pelagius I., chosen in 555. 
The confirmation was not awaited on the election of Pelagius 
II. in 578, it being impossible to obtain it, since the city of 
Rome was actually besieged by the Lombards. It was also ne- 
glected in the case of John IV., elected in 640, and of Martin in 
649. The tax, which seemed the chief object of the imperial 
court, was remitted by Constantine Pogonatus in 680 : who, in 
684, completely restored the ancient freedom of election, not 
requiring any longer the imperial assent. His successor, Jus- 
tinian II., renewed the claim in a mitigated form, allowing the 
exarch of Ravenna to assent in his name, and thus prevent de- 
lay. There is no instance of any election being set aside by 
the emperor, who seems to have regarded the right of confir- 
mation as a mere measure of finance. 

The Western emperors soon emulated the prerogatives of 
those of Constantinople. Louis the Pious, in 818, required an 
embassy from the Pope after his consecration. In 824 he sent 
his son Lothaire to Rome, to terminate the contest which 
had arisen on the election of Eugenius II., who was opposed 
by the anti-pope Zizinzus ; whence the young prince took oc- 
casion to publish an imperial edict, requiring that the conse- 
cration of the Pope should take place in presence of the impe- 
rial ambassadors, if the emperor himself were not present ; 
which regulation is stated by Pagi to have originated with Eu- 
genius himself, and to have been confirmed by John IX. in 898, 
through an anxiety to prevent tumults, and irregular promo- 
tions. The ambassador of Lothaire came to Rome in 827, to 
examine the election of Gregory IV., and in 855 the report of 
the election of Benedict III. was forwarded to the imperial 
court for examination. 



294 



PAPAL ELECTION. 



The canonical freedom of election was vindicated from time 
to time by decrees of the Pontiffs. Constantine, an anti-pope, 
with the aid of armed men, having obtained possession of the 
See, Stephen IV., in 769, forbad any layman, of any rank what- 
ever, to interfere in papal elections.* Adrian III., in 884, de- 
creed that the elect Pontiff might be consecrated without the 
presence of the king, or his ambassadors. 

It does not appear that the emperors exercised or claimed 
any right over the election, beyond the mere examination of 
its regularity, until the middle of the tenth century. After 
Otho I., in 962, had been crowned emperor by John XII., he 
exacted an oath from the clergy and people, that no Pope 
should thenceforward be consecrated without previously 
making, in presence of the imperial ambassadors, or of the 
son of the emperor, or of the public, a promise which is not 
distinctly specified, but is described as intended " for the satis- 
faction of all and for their future preservation," such as Leo 
IV. had spontaneously made. This pledge seems to have been 
directed to secure the imperial interests in Rome. Otho soon 
acted as if he could at will create and depose the Pope, having 
attempted to set aside John, and substitute the anti-pope Leo 
VIII. In this usurpation he was imitated by two emperors of 
the same name. 

Henry I. restored the freedom of papal elections, which his 
successors Conrad and the second Henry also respected ; al- 
though the latter required that the imperial ambassadors should 
be present at the consecration. It must be owned that the dis- 
orders of popular elections at Rome, and the violent intrusion 
of several unworthy men, gave an appearance of expediency 
to this intervention, which might have been salutary, if it did 
not prepare the way for unjust influence, amounting to control. 
Alexander II. directed that the royal authority should be await- 
ed, unless dangerous circumstances forbad delay. 

The imperial influence was exercised beneficially in several 
instances. At the solicitation of the clergy and people of 
Rome, Henry II. recommended Suidger, Bishop of Bamberg, 
for promotion ; who, accordingly, under the name of Clement 
IL, adorned the Apostolic throne by his virtues. Bruno, Bishop 
of Toul, was recommended by the Council of Worms to the 

* Cone. Rom., act. iii., apud Holstenium, in collect. Rom., par. i., p. 260. 



PAPAL ELECTION. 



295 



emperor, and by him proposed to the Roman clergy ; but the 
holy bishop entered Rome as a private individual, and refused 
to exercise any authority until the clergy and people freely 
elected him. He is known to us as St. Leo IX. Gebhard, 
Bishop of Aichstat, who was reluctantly yielded by the empe- 
ror to the urgent prayers of Hildebrand, filled the See as Vic- 
tor II. 

The deference shown to the emperors did not amount to an 
acknowledgment of any strict right on their part to control 
the elections, as is evident from the fact that many Popes were 
consecrated without awaiting the imperial assent. Leo IV., in 
847, was consecrated without the presence of the ambassadors ; 
and only five out of nineteen Popes who lived in the ninth 
centmy awaited the confirmation of their election. Stephen 
X. was consecrated within a few days after the death of Vic- 
tor II., when it was impossible to have received the confirma- 
tion. When in the minority of Henry IV. the right was claim- 
ed by the Regency in virtue of an alleged grant of Nicholas 
II. to the emperor, and complaint was made that Alexander 
II. had been consecrated without the imperial assent, the repre- 
sentatives of the Holy See strongly denied that even a Pope 
could give to the emperor a right of peremptory control, since 
the election of the Vicar of Christ must necessarily be free. 
The concession was shown to be a personal privilege granted 
in critical times, to be exercised without detriment to the liber- 
ty of election. St. Gregory VII., by soliciting the emperor to 
withhold his assent and defeat his election, seemed to acknow- 
ledge in him a power of veto ; but he grounded it on usage, or 
on the concession of his predecessors: whilst otherwise he is 
known to have zealously maintained the freedom of the Church, 
as of divine right. From his time the imperial pretensions 
were either altogether abandoned, or defeated by the constan- 
cy of the clergy. Gibbon remarks : " The removal of a foreign 
influence restored and endeared the Shepherd to his flock. In- 
stead of the arbitrary or venal nomination of a German court, 
the Vicar of Christ was freely chosen by the College of Car- 
dinals, most of whom were either natives or inhabitants of 
the city. The applause of the magistrates and people con- 
firmed his election : and the ecclesiastical power that was 
obeyed in Sweden and Britain had been ultimately derived 
from the suffrage of the Romans."* 

* Decline and Fall, ch. Ixix., A.D. 1000-1100. 



296 



PAPAL ELECTION. 



From a careful consideration of documents and facts, it 
results that no right of interference in the election of the Head 
of the Church, exists in emperors, or kings, or earthly rulers 
of any kind, and that an attempt on their part to control it is 
a violation of the immunities of the Church. The privileges 
which they once exercised were granted them by the Church 
herself, as the guardians of public order, in order to secure 
regularity in the proceedings, and the support of the civil 
power for the elect. Whenever they were exercised in an 
absolute and arbitrary way, or were assumed independently 
of the concession, or assent of the Pontiffs, they were usurpa- 
tions, which can neither prove nor give any right whatever. 

In modern times it has been customary for the electors to 
treat with respect the remonstrances of the chief powers, 
Austria, France, and Spain, and not to urge the promotion of 
an individual objected to by any of them, provided the objec- 
tion be made before the election is completed by the consent 
of two-thirds of the electors. Each power can exercise this 
prerogative only in one instance. No strict right of veto, how- 
ever, is acknowledged by this deference to the esclusiva, as 
this expression of the wishes of the crowned heads is called. 
Thus the liberty of the Church remains inviolate, whilst a 
just regard is had for the representatives of great national 
interests. 

§ 2. Mode of Election. 

The plenitude of power with which the Pope is clothed, 
might appear to authorize him to provide a successor, when 
old age warns him of the approach of death, or when he has 
reason to fear that intrigues, disorders, and violence may occur 
during the vacancy of the See. The language used by Ire- 
nseus in regard to Peter, who is said to have committed to 
Linus the administration of the Church, may be understood of 
the appointment of a successor ; but all antiquity has taught 
us that the bishopric should not be as a legacy, dependent on 
the mere will of the actual incumbent. The elective princi- 
ple, which was originally common to all episcopal sees, is 
still held sacred in regard to the See Apostolic, to which it is 
utterly forbidden to give the appearance of an inheritance. 
Hilarjr, in the beginning of the fifth century, in a Roman 
Council, declared that no Pope should choose his successor ; 
and the same important declaration was repeated and con- 



PAPAL ELECTION. 



297 



firmed by Pius IV. after the lapse of above eleven centuries. 
Pius added that no Pope could, even with the assent of the 
cardinals, choose a coadjutor, with the right of succeeding 
him. When Gregory XIV. lay at the point of death, he ex- 
horted the cardinals to proceed to the election of his successor, 
but they declined. Boniface II., in 530, designated Vigilius for 
his successor, with the view of preventing the intrusion of an 
unworthy incumbent by the King of the Goths ; but on ma- 
turer reflection, he committed his decree to the flames, lest his 
example should give an hereditary appearance to the sacred 
office. Several Popes, on their death-bed, recommended to the 
cardinals the person whom they deemed most worthy to suc- 
ceed, as Clement VII. dying said, that he would choose Car- 
dinal Farnese, if the office could be bequeathed. Their 
recommendation was adopted in this instance, whilst in some 
cases it was neglected. By a decree of Symmachus, in 499, 
renewed by Paul IV. in 1558, it is forbidden, under pain of 
excommunication, to treat, during the lifetime of the Pope, of 
his successor. It is likewise forbidden, under the same penalty, 
to make wagers concerning the future Pontiff, when the See 
is actually vacant, lest any person should use improper mea- 
sures to obtain a choice favorable to their interests. 

It is beyond a doubt that the people, for many ages, had a 
great share in the election of bishops. It does not appear 
that they had at any time a strict right of suffrage : but their 
favorable testimony had considerable weight, their just wishes 
were respected, and the clergy willingly aided in the promo- 
tion of those who were most likely to secure popular respect 
and obedience. In those times, however, the chief pastor did 
not fail to admonish the clergy that they must not be driven 
forward by the popular impulse, which they should rather pru- 
dently direct and control. " The people," said St. Celestin, in 
the fifth century, " should be taught, not followed ; and we 
should admonish them, if they be ignorant of what is lawful 
and what is forbidden, nor should we consent to them."* In 
the preceding age, the Council of Laodicea had decreed that 
the " multitude must not be allowed to make the election of 
those who are to be raised to the priesthood."f The publicity 
and popular character of the elections continued at Rome 



* Ad ep. Apuliae. f Can. xiii., apud Hard., t. i., col. 784. 



293 



PAPAL ELECTION. 



down to the twelfth century. Nicholas II., who in 1058 was 
elected by the clergy, in presence and with the concurrence of 
the people, decreed that the right of election belonged, in the 
first place, to the cardinal bishops who were to fix upon the 
candidate, and next to the cardinal priests and deacons, whose 
concurrence was to be sought, and that the clergy and people 
should express their assent, following the cardinals as guides. 
The people continued to be present at the elections, and, by 
their acclamations, signified their assent to the individual 
chosen by the cardinal bishops, with the consent of the clergy. 
Innocent II., in 1130, to remedy the disorders attending these 
popular assemblies, attempted to exclude the people from the 
election ; but they rose in arms, and maintained their imme- 
morial privileges, so that Eugene III., in 1145, was elected by 
the general wish of the clergy and people ; and in 1154, the 
clergy and laity, with acclamation, enthroned Adrian IV. In 
the third Council of Lateran, held in 1179, under Alexander 
III., it was decreed, that in case of a division at the election, 
the person having two-thirds of the votes of the cardinals 
should be acknowledged as true Pontiff. The people, conse- 
quently, thenceforward ceased to have any participation in the 
choice ; and they were effectually excluded from witnessing 
the election, when it became customary to hold it within an 
enclosure, called the conclave, which was occasionally done, 
even before it was specially decreed by Gregory X. in 1274. 

The exclusion of the laity from the elections was rendered 
necessary by the tumults and sanguinary scenes that often- 
times attended popular assemblies. It was the wish of Gre- 
gory of Nazianzum, so early as the fourth age, that the choice 
of the prelates of the Church were reserved to a small num- 
ber of good men.* This is verified in the body of cardinals, 
who are never more than seventy in number, as seventy elders 
aided Moses in the government of the people, and who gene- 
rally are men of great experience, and unblemished morals. 
Six of them are bishops of the neighboring Sees of Ostia, 
Porto, Alb a no, Preneste, Sabina, and Frescati. Fifty may 
belong to the order of priests, and fourteen to that of deacons : 
all of whom have titles taken from the ancient Churches of 
Rome, over which they preside ; and consequently they are 
the chief clergy of the Roman Church. 

* Orat. xix. 



PAPAL ELECTION. 



299 



The election is conducted in a manner best calculated to 
result in a happy choice. A solemn mass is celebrated each 
day to implore the light of the Holy Ghost. A sermon is de- 
livered at the opening of the conclave, in which the electors 
are exhorted to choose a worthy successor of Peter. All ex- 
ternal influence is studiously excluded, no person being al- 
lowed to speak in secret, or to communicate by letter with 
any cardinal, under penalty of excommunication. Any elector, 
who, by gifts, promises, or entreaties, attempts to influence the 
votes of the others, incurs the same awful penalty. The 
election is made by ballot, care being taken, by the ingenious 
folding of the tickets, that no one can know how another has 
voted, and that no deception be practised in the counting of 
the votes. At the close of each ballot all the tickets are 
burnt. When the electors please, they make an open ballot, 
or without voting, rush, as it were, by general inspiration, to 
venerate as Pope the individual who is known to be accept- 
able to all. Each cardinal, when depositing his vote in the 
chalice, on the altar, solemnly swears that he gives it accord- 
ing to his conscientious judgment : " I call to witness Christ 
the Lord, who is to judge me, that I choose the person, who, 
before God, I judge ought to be elected." Two-thirds of the 
electors must concur to a choice. Each morning and evening 
the ballot takes place ; and in case of no choice being made, 
a supplementary ballot immediately follows, in order to give 
the electors an opportunity to supply the number of votes 
necessary. This is called the accesso. The cardinals continue 
confined within the conclave, like jurors in a jury-room, until 
the election is made. 



CHAPTER XX. 



CEREMONIES. 

§ 1. Ceremonies after Election. 

After the election of the Pope, his consent is demanded, and 
he is asked by what name he chooses to be thenceforward 
called. The custom of assuming a new name was introduced 
in the tenth century, and although not originally so designed, 
it corresponds with the example of Simon, who received the 
name of Peter, on being called by our Lord. The Pope then 
kneels before the altar in prayer, and retires behind it to lay 
aside the robes of cardinal, and assume those of Pontiff; 
clothed with which, he seats himself in front of it, on a chair, 
where he admits the cardinals to kiss his hand, and embrace 
him. Wearing the mantle, called the cope, and the episcopal 
mitre, he is placed on the altar of the Sixtine chapel, where, 
as the representative and Vicar of Christ, he receives the 
homage of the sacred college, in a manner far more solemn 
and expressive. They kiss his foot, and also his hand covered 
with the sacred robe, and embrace him, approaching their 
cheek to his, on each side. This ceremony has been popularly 
styled adoration, in the free sense in which this term was gene- 
rally used, corresponding with veneration, homage, or respect. 
Novaes justly remarks, that it does not even denote in this 
place veneration such as is given to the saints, but respect.* 
The Rubricists term it obedience, because used in token of 
submission to the authority of the Pontiff. The kissing of the 
foot is an ancient Oriental rite, expressive of honor and affec- 
tion, and is peculiarly suitable to the apostolic office, since the 

* " Con questo nome noi qui intendiamo col Cardinal Bellarmino un atto di 
rispetto." Introd. alle Yite de Ss. Pontef., per Giuseppe de Novaes. Roma, 
1822. T. i., p. 237. 



CEREMONIES. 



301 



feet are beautiful of him who proclaims to Sion : Thy God 
shall reign. The penitent kissed the feet of our Divine Mas- 
ter ; and the devout women, who met Him after His resurrec- 
tion, held fast His feet, no doubt kissing them affectionately. 
Cornelius, the centurion, cast himself at the feet of Simon 
Peter, venerating the messenger of God. From the acts of 
St. Susanna, a virgin who suffered martyrdom about the year 
294, it appears that the custom of paying this mark of respect 
to the successors of the apostle already existed, since Praepe- 
digna is related to have kissed the feet of Pope Cajus, accord- 
ing to custom. The most powerful princes at various times 
gave this profound honor to the Popes. The Emperor Justin 
I., in 525, prostrated himself at the feet of Pope John : Jus- 
tinian I. honored Agapetus in like manner : Justinian II., with 
the imperial crown on his head, kissed the feet of Pope Con- 
stantine in 710 : Luitprand, king of the Lombards, kissed the 
feet of Gregory II. : Rachis honored Zacharias in the same 
way : Charlemagne gave the like honor to Adrian I. ; and, to 
pass over many other examples, the Emperor Charles V. ho- 
nored Clement TIL and Paul III. with the same mark of vene- 
ration. No one who knows the war waged by Charles against 
Clement will ascribe this homage to pusillanimity, or super- 
stition. Since the time of Gregory the Great, as rubricists 
state, it has been customary with the Popes to wear the cross 
on their sandals, that the honor might be referred to Christ 
crucified. If, however, it be given directly to the Pope as his 
representative, there is nothing in it which reason may con- 
demn. Besides, the Pope himself every year, on Holy Thurs- 
day, kisses the feet of thirteen priests, after having washed 
them in imitation of our blessed Redeemer. Can his admis- 
sion of others to perform in his regard a similar act, be a just 
cause of scandal? 

The splendid chair on which the Pope is borne aloft on the 
shoulders of twelve men, to the basilic of St. Peter, is used in 
consideration of his age, which is generally advanced, and in 
order to render him visible to the faithful, who should, on this 
solemn occasion, distinctly recognise their chief Pastor. The 
peacock feathers, which wave on each side of it, are symboli- 
cal of his universal inspection, as if he had as many eyes as 
appear in the plumage of the proud bird. 

I deem it superfluous to explain in detail the ceremonies 

19 



302 



CEREMONIES. 



practised in the basilic of St. Peter, where, after adoring the 
Blessed Sacrament, the Pope receives the same homage as had 
been given him in the chapel. Three cardinal priests are ad- 
mitted to kiss his mouth and breast on this occasion : in token 
of the affection which they bear him, and of the reverence 
with which they will receive the words which he will utter in 
the name of Christ. 

§ 2. Ceremonies of Coronation. 

The solemn coronation takes place generally a week after 
the election. In this ceremony, a long plated cane, surmounted 
with a bunch of flax, is carried by the master of ceremonies, 
who lights it, bends the knee to the Pontiff in token of reve- 
rence, as is usually done towards sovereigns, and says : " Holy 
Father, thus passeth away the glory of this world." This 
ceremony is repeated three times, that the Pontiff may never 
suffer his mind to be dazzled by the splendor with which he is 
surrounded. 

On the altar where Mass is to be celebrated, seven candles 
are lighted, as is usual whenever any bishop celebrates in his 
own diocese, in conformity with the vision of the Evangelist, 
to whom our Lord appeared amidst seven candlesticks, em- 
blems of the seven churches of Minor Asia. 

After the confession in the commencement of Mass, the 
Pope is placed on the seat on which he was carried to the 
church ; the pallium is blessed by the three first cardinals, and 
is then hung on his shoulders, by the first cardinal deacon, 
who says to him : " Receive the holy pallium, the fulness of 
the pontifical office, for the honor of Almighty God, and of the 
most glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother, and of the blessed 
apostles Peter and Paul, and of the Holy Roman Church." 
The mention of the Blessed Virgin and the apostles, in con- 
junction with the Deity, is conformable to scriptural prece- 
dent, where the agent of divine power is mentioned conjoint- 
ly with God himself. Thus Moses* and Gideonf are men- 
tioned with God. 

The cardinal deacon, accompanied by the judges of the 
tribunal called Rota, and by the consistorial advocates, goes 
to the tomb of St. Peter, and thrice invokes Christ in behalf 



* Num. xxi. 5. 



f Judges vii, 20. 



CEREMONIES. 



303 



of the Pontiff: " Hear us graciously, O Christ : " he cries ; and 
those around him answer, praying : " Long life to the Sove- 
reign Pontiff and Universal Pope destined by God." " Saviour 
of the world," cries the cardinal deacon ; they answering : 
" do Thou help him." The aid of the prayers of the arch- 
angels and saints is then asked in a short litany. 

The Gospel is sung in Latin and Greek, to represent the 
union of those portions of the Church whose rite and language 
are different. 

After the Mass, the Pontiff, seated in the great balcony in 
front of the church, in the presence of the whole people, is 
crowned with the tiara, by the first cardinal deacon, after the 
choir has sung the verse of the Psalmist : "A golden crown is 
on his head ! " 

It is a curious fact, which seems, nevertheless, unquestiona- 
ble, that the tiara, in its original form, is no other than the cap 
used by the ancient Romans as the symbol of liberty, because 
given to liberated slaves. In the ancient images of the Popes, 
all who preceded the reign of Constantine are represented 
with the head uncovered ; and Sylvester, who was contempo- 
rary with him, appears with the simple Roman cap. Pape- 
broeck conjectures that the reason of this is, that when peace 
was granted to the Church by Constantine, Sylvester, either of 
his own accord, or by the order of the emperor, took the cap 
as the symbol of liberty, according to Roman usage.* The 
Bollandists concur in this view, and explain its signification as 
relating to the liberation of the Church by Constantine, from 
heathenish oppression, and the many immunities which he 
granted to her.f Novaes, a Portuguese, writing at Rome in 
the beginning of the present century, adopts the same opinion, 
and expressly says, that the tiara was originally the Roman 
cap, the symbol of liberty. J An ornamental circle, which is 
called by many a crown, is observable around the lower part 
of the cap, in the ancient pictures of the Popes who succeeded 
Sylvester ; but there is no evidence of any coronation of a 
Pope before the time of Nicholas I., in the middle of the ninth 
century, or at least before Leo III., in 795. I, therefore, in- 
cline to believe that this ornament was first added when the 

* In conatu ad S. Silvest., n. 5. f Acta SS. Maji, 1. iv., die 19. 
% Diss, v., Delia solenne Coron. de' Ponf., p. 87. 



304 



CEREMONIES. 



Popes had acquired a temporal principality, and was used as 
a secular ornament, symbolical of their sovereignty over the 
Roman States. The circumstance of the tiara being blessed 
and placed on the Pope in the balcony of the church, and the 
fact of its never being worn at Mass, favor this view. Inno- 
cent III. speaks of it as the symbol of temporal power ; but 
his words seem to regard the power which, as Vicar of Christ, 
he claimed over sovereigns, ratione peccati, as far as the mo- 
rality of their actions was concerned. " The Church," he 
says, " has given me a crown as a symbol of temporalities : 
she has conferred on me a mitre in token of spiritual power : 
a mitre for the priesthood — a crown for the kingdom : making 
me the vicar of Him who bears written on His garment and 
thigh : 1 The King of kings, and Lord of lords.' " # It is gene- 
rally thought that Boniface VIII., who flourished a century 
afterwards, added a second circle, or crown, to the cap, to 
signify this power over sovereigns : but if the testimony of 
Benzo can be relied on, the two circles were on the cap worn 
by Nicholas II., who was chosen Pope in 1053.f Innocent, 
who lived a century and half later, manifestly lays no stress 
on the second crown, and makes no allusion to it. The third 
circle was added, as many think, by Benedict XII., who was 
chosen Pope in 1334. I know of no document which deter- 
mines the meaningj of the three circles, which may have been 
added for mere ornament, without any special signification. 

The tiara was generally worn only in the solemn ceremony 
of the coronation, until the time of Paul II., chosen Pope in 
1464, who used it on many occasions. Some Popes wore it 
on the chief festivals. 

The address made to the Pope when the tiara is placed on 
his head, which mentions the three crowns, must have been 
composed, or amended, at a time when they were used. The 
cardinal deacon says to him : " Receive the tiara adorned with 
three crowns, and know that thou art the father of princes 
and kings, the ruler of the world on earth,§ the Vicar of our 

* Serm. in festo S. Silvest. • f De rebus Henrici III., 1. vii., c. 2. 

% " Qual che siane il significato simbolico." Lunadoro. 

§ " Rectorem orbis in terra." Some put a comma after orbis, and refer 
" in terra " to vicarium : but the other punctuation seems correct. " Orbis in 
urbe " is found in Ovid, and signifies a multitude in a city. The Church on 
earth may be aptly designated orbis in terra. 



CEREMONIES. 



305 



Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory throughout all 
ages." This language might be considered as implying all 
that was claimed by Gregory, Innocent, or Boniface ; but it is 
also capable of an interpretation consistent with the more 
moderate pretensions of the Popes, who, since the days of 
Sixtus V., or Gregory XIV., during two centuries and a half, 
have filled the chair of the fisherman. The Pontiff* is truly 
" the father of princes and kings," venerated as such by all 
the children of the Church, who, in their highest elevation, 
recognise him as the general head of the whole Christian 
family. He may be styled "ruler on earth of the world," 
because the Church, in which he holds the primacy, is spread 
throughout the world, and he is charged to promulgate to 
every creature the law of God, to which every soul must be 
subject. He holds the place of Christ, being entrusted by Him 
with the care of His sheepfold. 

If it be insisted that civil power is claimed by the Pope 
beyond the Roman States, I refer to the address of the fifth 
Council of Baltimore to the late Pontiff, in which the Ameri- 
can prelates speak of our calumniators in these terms : " they 
strive to cast suspicion and bring the odium of government on 
us their Catholic fellow-citizens, although our fathers poured 
out their blood like water in defence of liberty against a sec- 
tarian oppressor ; and falsely assert that we are enslaved to a 
foreign prince, namely, under the political and civil authority 
of the Roman Pontiff, and that we are faithless to the govern- 
ment."* This disclaimer of all civil power in the Pontiff, 
which many of us have made on our oaths, was graciously 
received by Gregory XVI. Can any further evidence be re- 
quired that the authority which we recognise in him is spirit- 
ual, and nowise inconsistent with the most unqualified alle- 
giance to the civil government ? 

* Inter acta Cone. Bait. V. " Nos, Catholicos concives suos, quamvis 
patres nostri sanguinem suum tamquam aquam profuderint pro vindicatione 
libertatis contra oppressorem acatholicum, gubernio suspectos obnoxiosque 
reddere, utpote, ut falso asserunt, sub alieni principis, pontificis, scilicet ro- 
mani, ditione politica et civili in servitutem redactos, ideoque reipublicae in- 
fidos." 



THE PRIMACY. 

PART II. 
SECULAR RELATIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



The primacy is essentially a spiritual office, which has not, of 
divine right, any temporal appendage : yet the Pope is actu- 
ally sovereign of a small principality in Italy, designated the 
patrimony of St. Peter, or the States of the Church. It has been 
so styled because it has been attached to the pontifical office, 
through reverence for the prince of the apostles. As it has 
no necessary connection with the primacy, and as Catholics, 
not living within the Roman States, are not subject to the 
civil authority of the Pope, it is not necessary to treat of it : 
yet it is a matter of no small interest to trace its history, and 
observe by what a combination of events Providence has an- 
nexed it to the Holy See, and most wonderfully maintained it 
amidst the revolutions of empires and kingdoms. 

Christ sent forth his disciples without scrip or staff", giving 
them no dominion over the least spot of earth. In making 
Peter the ruler of His kingdom, He gave him no dominion, 
nor wealth, nor any of the appendages of royalty. The Mas- 
ter had not whereon to lay His head ; and the chief disciple 
was unprovided with any earthly possession. Gold and silver 
he had not, but he had powers of a supernatural order, for the 
government of men in order to salvation. 

The generous zeal with which the first disciples devoted 
themselves to the service of God, led many of them to sell 
their property, and lay the purchase-money at the feet of St. 
Peter, to form thence a common fund for the general necessi- 
ties : yet we have no reason to suppose that it rose to any 
great amount, since the constantly flowing streams of benefi- 
cence left but little in the common reservoir. When the apos- 
tle closed his career, he bequeathed to his successors no in- 
heritance but the labors and dangers of his office. For three 



310 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



centuries they continued exposed to the fury of persecution. 
Nevertheless, the generosity of the faithful consecrated to 
the service of religion, under their direction, a considerable 
portion of their worldly riches ; so that a public treasure 
was formed, by means of which the clergy and a large number 
of indigent persons were supported. In the middle of the 
third century, Pope Cornelius, in a letter to Fabius, Bishop of 
Antioch, stated that there were then at Rome forty-six priests, 
seven deacons, seven sub-deacons, forty-two acolythes, fifty- 
two exorcists, lectors, and janitors; that is, clergymen in 
minor orders ; and one thousand five hundred widows, with 
other afflicted and distressed persons,- — to all of whom the 
grace and bounty of the Lord furnished support.* The hea- 
thens believed the wealth of the Church to be great, since the 
deacon Lawrence, in the time of persecution, was called on 
to deliver it up to the public officer. To avoid doing so, he 
distributed all to the poor, whom he presented at the appoint- 
ed time, saying : " Here are the treasures of the Church." 

It is certain that the Emperor Constantine, on his conversion 
to Christianity, bestowed large possessions on the Bishop of 
Rome ; although the document purporting to be the instru- 
ment of donation is now acknowledged to be supposititious. 
As the acute De Maistre observes, nothing is more certain 
than the donation of Constantine. Voltaire avows that " he 
gave in reality to the cathedral church of St. John, not to the 
Bishop of Rome individually, a thousand marcs of gold, and 
thirty thousand marcs of silver, with a revenue of fourteen 
thousand sous, and lands in Calabria. Each emperor succes- 
sively increased this patrimony. The Bishops of Rome stood 
in need of it. The missionaries whom they soon sent to pagan 
Europe, the exiled bishops to whom they afforded a refuge, 
the poor whom they fed, put them under the necessity of being 
very wealthy."! The palace of Lateran was in possession of 
the Pope, soon after the conversion of Constantine, since Mel- 
chiades held there a Council to decide the Donatist contro- 
versy, and the Church erected beside it still bears the name 
of the generous emperor. Fleury testifies, that from the 
ancient monuments of the Roman Church, it is apparent that 
Constantine gave to the baptistery of St. John of Lateran, 

* Ad Fabium Antioch, col. 150, Coustant, t. i. f Essai sur l'Histoire, t. ii. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



311 



which is attached to the Constantine basilic, so many houses 
and farms, not only in Italy, but likewise in Sicily, Africa, 
and Greece, that the annual revenue amounted to 30,934 
marcs of gold.* Secular influence naturally followed wealth, 
and the withdrawal of Constantine from the ancient capital 
of the empire, left the Bishop of Rome in a position almost 
independent ; the pontifical chair being no longer overshadowed 
by the imperial throne. Necessity forced him oftentimes to 
act as protector and father of the Roman people, when his 
interposition alone could avert the wrath of some fierce bar- 
barian rushing forward to lay the fair city in ruins, and fill 
her streets with her slaughtered citizens. When Attila, " the 
scourge of God," at the head of 500,000 Huns, advanced to its 
destruction, the mild eloquence of Leo the Great disarmed 
him. Two years afterwards, the Pontiff discharged the same 
office of mediator with Genseric, who, at the head of Vandals 
and Moors, came to wreak vengeance on the queen of nations : 
but he could only save the citizens by delivering the city to 
pillage. Although the Bishop of Rome was not in fact a 
temporal sovereign, yet his spiritual power was surrounded 
with so great secular influence, that he almost ranked as a 
prince, and felt that wrongs inflicted on his representatives in 
the imperial court were violations of the rights of sovereignty. 
In 484, St. Felix complained to the Emperor, Zeno, that the 
laws of nations had been violated by the injurious treatment 
of his legates. 

The moderation and indulgence with which the Popes 
treated their dependents, made men desirous of enjoying their 
protection. St. Gregory the Great exhorted Sabinian, Bishop 
of Callipolis, a city dependent on the Roman Church, to see 
that the citizens should not be overmuch burdened. f Pan- 
taleon, the notary of Syracuse, having reported to him that 
injustice had been practised in the name of the Roman Church 
on her dependents, he praised him, and directed strict inquiry 
to be made into the wrongs already committed, that they 
might be repaired : " for," he says, " like the Teacher of the 
nations, I have all things, and abound : and I do not seek 
money, but a heavenly recompense." J He instructed Peter, 
his agent in Sicily, to cause restitution to be made, if, as was 



* Hist., 1. xi., A. C. 326. f L. ix., ep. c. | L. xiii., ep. xxxiv, 



312 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



alleged, the possessions of individuals, or their personal pro- 
perty, or their slaves, had been seized on in the name of the 
Roman Church, within the preceding ten years, and to save 
the aggrieved the trouble of coming to Rome for redress. 
Strict impartiality was enjoined by him, as the best evidence 
which the agent could give of his devotedness to the Apostolic 
See : " for then," says he, " you will be truly a soldier of St. Peter, 
if in cases which concern him, you maintain what is right, 
without regard to his interests." # Guizot, after citing some 
humane regulations of Gregory, observes : " It is easy to un- 
derstand why people were at that time eager to place them- 
selves under the dominion of the Church : lay proprietors 
were certainly far from showing like solicitude for the well- 
being of the occupants of their domains." f 

The possessions of the Roman Church were regarded as a 
trust for the poor, whose interests St. Gregory felt that he was 
guarding, whilst he attended to the collection of the revenues* 
which he dispensed with liberality and discernment. He 
directed two thousand bushels of wheat to be given by the 
deacon, Cyprian, his agent in Sicily, to the Bishop, Zeno, for 
the relief of the poor of his city. J Sending the priest Can- 
didus into Gaul, to manage the small patrimony of the Roman 
Church in that kingdom, he ordered the revenues to be em- 
ployed in buying clothes for the poor, and in purchasing 
English boys of seventeen or eighteen years of age, that they 
might be rescued from the bondage of error and sin, and in- 
structed in some monastery where they might serve God. § 
He thanked the prefect of Africa for the protection afforded 
by him in what regarded the interests of the poor of blessed 
Peter, prince of the apostles.|| Talitan, another guardian of 
the patrimony, was exhorted by him to defend it, as being the 
portion of the poor. Truly did Gibbon say : " In the use of 
wealth he acted like a faithful steward of the Church and the 
poor, and liberally applied to their wants the inexhaustible 
resources of abstinence and order." H 

Property, in those ages, brought with it dominion over the 
occupants of the soil. Whence, as the same writer observes, 

* L. i., ep. xxxvi. f Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. iv., p. 259. 

% L. vi., ep. iv. § L. v., ep. vii. 

11 L. x., ep. xxxvii. *[f Decline and Fall, &c., ch. xlv. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



313 



" the agents of the Church of Rome had acquired a civil and 
even criminal jurisdiction over their tenants and husband- 
men."* Although the feudal system was not as yet develop- 
ed, yet much that characterized the ages strictly designated 
feudal was observable in the relations of landlord and tenant ; 
so that the remarks of Guizot may be applied to that period, 
and may help to solve the enigma of the exercise of a power 
apparently supreme in many respects, and yet confessedly sub- 
ordinate to the imperial authority. " The landed proprietor," 
says this acute writer, " as such, exercised in his possessions 
some of the rights now reserved to the sovereign. He main- 
tained order, administered justice, or caused it to be adminis- 
tered ; led forth, or sent forth to battle the occupants of his 
lands, not in virtue of a special power styled political, but of 
his right of property, which included various powers."f 

In fact, we find Gregory issuing orders to the defender — 
that is, agent or officer charged with the care of the patrimony 
— in an authoritative form : prcecepti nostri pagina : J and con- 
firming his acts in the most express manner, to prevent their 
being called in question : per hujus tuitionis paginam confirma- 
mus.§ He directed his attention to the case of an injured wo- 
man, whose complaints had reached him, and ordered an in- 
quiry to be made into it, by arbitrators to be chosen by the 
parties.|| He prescribed rules to be followed in trials of the 
right of property, and directed possession during forty years to 
be taken as a presumptive proof, barring any adverse claim.11 
He instructed Sergius, the defender at Otranto, to force Fru- 
niscendus to answer a claim made against him, and he direct- 
ed him to pronounce and execute the sentence without admit- 
ting any appeal.** 

It may be questioned whether Gregory acted as a landed 
proprietor, in several instances, in which he took upon himself 
to direct military movements for the defence of various parts 
of Italy. Doubtless he had vast interests at stake, but zeal for 
the common safety may have prompted him to give orders, 
which all were disposed to receive with gratitude and reve- 

* Decline and Fall, &c., ch. xlv. 

f Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. iii., p. 75. \ L. ix., ep. xl., et. 1. x,, ep. x. 

§ L. ix., ep. lvii. |j Ep. lxxxiii. 

■jf L. i., ep. ii., et. 1. vii., ep. xxxix, ** L. ix., ep. ci. 



314 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



rence from one whose social position was already so eminent. 
We find him appointing Constance, the tribune, to guard the 
city of Naples, and exhorting the soldiers to obey him.* Mau- 
rentius, another officer in command of the troops at Naples, 
was directed to relieve Theodosius, abbot of a monastery in 
Campania, from the necessity of guarding the wails, f Appre- 
hending that Ariulphus, the Lombard, might attack Ravenna, 
or Rome, he issued orders for defence to the commanders of the 
troops.J He apprised Januarius, Bishop of Cagliari, and Gen- 
nadius, who appears to have been a layman in high office, of 
the danger of the invasion of Sardinia by the Lombards under 
Agilulph, that they might prepare to repel it, and declared 
that on his part he would neglect nothing in his power in or- 
der to be in readiness. 

The negotiations which he carried on with the Lombard 
king, show that his own position was equivalent to that of an 
independent prince. He urged Severus, the assessor of the 
exarch, to advise him to make peace with Agilulph, intimating 
that should he decline any arrangement, the king had offered 
to come to an arrangement with himself, who must have been 
consequently in a position nearly equal to that of a sovereign.^ 
He afterwards made peace with the Lombards on terms no- 
wise prejudicial to the commonwealth.jj He wrote to Agi- 
lulph, to thank him for the peace, urged him to see that his 
officers respect it, and assured him that he received his mes- 
sengers affectionately, as bearers of good tidings.^! At the 
same time he addressed letters of thanks to Theodelinda, the 
wife of the king, for her kind offices in procuring peace, and 
begged her to continue them, that Agilulph " may not reject 
the society of the Christian republic."** " Disappointed," says 
Gibbon, " in the hopes of a general and lasting treaty, he pre- 
sumed to save his country without the consent of the emperor 
or the exarch. The sword of the enemy was suspended over 
Rome : it was averted by the mild eloquence and seasonable 
gifts of the Pontiff, who commanded the respect of heretics 
and barbarians. The merits of Gregory were treated by the 
Byzantine court with reproach and insult ; but in the attach- 

* L. ii., ep. xxxi. f L. ix., ep. lxxiii. % L. iii., ep. xxix., xxx, 
§ L. v., ep. xxxv. || Ep. xl. T[ Ep. xlii. 

** Ep. xliii. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



315 



ment of a grateful people, he found the purest reward of a 
citizen, and the best right of a sovereign."* 

That he had civil authority at Rome, appears from the plea 
of Boniface of Africa, who offered as an excuse for not pre- 
senting himself to give an account of his faith, that his friends 
feared the employment of force against him : " Those," says 
the Pontiff, " who partake of your doubts, if they will come to 
me, have no reason to fear that I will employ my authority 
against them ; for in all causes, but especially in those which 
regard divine things, we are eager to bind men by reason, ra- 
ther than by force."f His great civil influence is apparent 
from his observation, when he was calumniated as having 
caused the death of the Bishop Malchus : " On this point it suf- 
fices for you to remark to our most serene lords, that if I, their 
servant, had been willing to cause the death of the Lombards, 
the nation of the Lombards would, at this day, have neither 
king, nor dukes, nor counts, but would be in unutterable con- 
fusion.";!; He was not, however, free from all dependence on 
the empire, since we find him promulgating a law enacted by 
Mauritius, although it did not accord with his own judgment. 
The terms of his remonstrance indicate the submission of a 
subject to his sovereign.^ 

At a subsequent period, the fanatic zeal of Justinian to pro- 
cure the approval of the Trullan Council, and the persecuting 
measures of the iconoclasts, caused the Romans and Italians to 
rally round the Bishop of Rome. When Zacharias, an impe- 
rial officer, attempted to execute the order which he had re- 
ceived for the arrest and transportation to Constantinople of 
Pope Sergius, who refused to sanction the innovations of the 
Trullan prelates, the military of Ravenna, of the dukedom of 
Pentapolis, and of the neighboring districts, rushed to the de- 
fence of the Pontiff, and, but for his interposition, would have 
torn the officer to pieces. The Lombards vied with the Ro- 
mans in protecting the person of Gregory II. against the satel- 
lites of the iconoclast emperor, Leo the Isaurian. From that 
time, the military took a conspicuous part in the election of 
the Pope, being allowed on more than one occasion to declare 

* Decline and Fall, &c., ch. xlv. f L. iv., ep. xliii. { Ep. xlvii. 
§ t; Ego quidem jussioni subjectus — imperatori obedientiam praebui." L, 
iii., ep. lxv. 



316 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



their assent by subscribing to the document which certified 
that he was chosen by the clergy, soldiery, and people. The 
holy Pontiff, notwithstanding this attempt on his life, continu- 
ed to support the imperial authority, forbidding the Italians to 
execute a determination which they had formed to shake off 
the yoke, when Leo the Isaurian decreed the destruction of the 
sacred images. The Popes were prompted by humanity and re- 
ligion to adopt measures for the protection of the Romans 
against the barbarian hordes that overran Italy. With this 
view they raised walls around the city, and provided it with 
means of defence. Their independence seems to have been 
accomplished about the year 728, when the imperial power be- 
came extinct in Italy ;* but their inability to protect " their 
people," as they emphatically called the Romans, forced them 
to have recourse to the Frank princes, who generously came 
to their relief. When Rome was besieged by Aristulph, King 
of the Lombards, Stephen III. called on Pepin, King of the 
Franks, to succor the Roman Church, and " his people, the 
citizens of the republic of the Romans." On his victory over 
the Lombards, the prince restored to the Pope, in the year 755, 
twenty cities, which his valor had rescued from the oppressor. 
The temporal principality, which had originated in the neces- 
sities and will of the people, was strengthened by this act, and 
the munificence of the prince proved him worthy of the title of 
" Patrician," which implied that he was the official protector 
of the Roman Church and people. It is not easy to define with 
accuracy the relations of the Romans to the prince and the 
Pontiff; but to me it appears that the latter may be regarded 
as limiting his sovereignty to the exercise of a protectorate, 
whilst the Romans were virtually a republic, and that the pa- 
trician was to support the existing order by his intervention 
in cases of extraordinary danger from external assaults, or do- 
mestic dissensions. By his counsels and influence, rather than 
by the display of power, the Pontiff reigned over his people, 
who cheerfully obeyed their father and benefactor, unless 
when excited passion drove them to temporary acts of insubor- 
dination and revolt. As it did not become him to use the 
sword, he called to his aid a temporal prince to employ that 
coercion which was necessary to restrain rebellious spirits, re- 

* See Zaccaria Dissertazioni, t. xxi., diss. iii. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 317 

serving to himself the exercise of the milder attributes of sove- 
reignty. When some desperate men attempted to assassinate 
the holy Pontiff Leo 111., and actually mutilated and disfigur- 
ed him, he became intercessor in their behalf with Charle- 
magne, then only designated patrician, and obtained their 
pardon. Yet, on a subsequent occasion, when a similar at- 
tempt had been made, and the assassins had been found guilty 
of a crime punishable with death, according to the laws of the 
Romans, he suffered the sentence to be executed, lest extreme 
lenity should embolden the wicked. 

" Mercy is not itself, that oft looks so ; 
Pardon is still the nurse of second wo."* 

Among the acts of sovereignty which the public danger 
forced the Pontiff to exercise, was the repelling of barbarian 
troops that invaded the Roman territory. In the reign of Leo 
IV., the Saracens endeavored to effect a landing at Ostia, in 
order to advance against Rome. The heroic Pope fulfilled 
the duties of a sovereign without prejudice to his spiritual 
character : " Pope Leo IV., taking upon himself at this crisis 
an authority which the generals of the Emperor Lothaire 
seemed to abandon, showed himself worthy to be the sovereign 
of Rome, by his successful defence of it. He had employed 
the riches of the Church in repairing the walls, raising towers, 
and extending chains over the Tiber. He armed the troops at 
his own expense, engaged the inhabitants of Naples and Gaeta 
to come to the defence of the coasts, and port of Ostia, without 
neglecting the wise precaution to require hostages from them, 
as he well know that those who are strong enough to aid us, 
are equally so to do us injury. He himself visited all the 
posts, and met the Saracens on their approach, not clad in 
military attire, as Goslin, the Bishop of Paris, had appeared in 
a still more critical conjuncture, but as a Pontiff exhorting a 
Christian people, and a sovereign intent on the safety of his 
subjects. He was a native of Rome. The courage of the first 
ages of the republic revived in his person, at a period of de- 
generacy and corruption, like some splendid monument of an- 
cient Rome, now and then discovered among the ruins of the 
modern city. The attack of the Saracens was bravely met, 



* Measure for Measure. — Shakspeare. 
20 



318 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



and half of their vessels having been destroyed by a storm, a 
portion of the assailants, who escaped shipwreck, were chain- 
ed, to be employed in public works : the Pope deriving this ad- 
vantage from his victory, that the very hands which were 
raised for the destruction of Rome, were employed in fortify- 
ing and adorning it."* 

The like occasions for the exercise of a protective sove- 
reignty occurred from time to time. In the early part of the 
tenth century, John X. successfully repulsed the Saracens, who 
had attempted to invade the Roman territory. Benedict VIII., 
in the following age, drove them from the Italian shores, and 
compelled the Greeks, who inhabited Apulia, to sue for peace. 
St. Leo IX. accompanied his troops in their expedition against 
the Normans, who ravaged the south of Italy, to inspire con- 
fidence by his presence ; but he took no part in the strife, being 
content, like another Moses, to uplift his hands in prayer. 
God, whose counsels are mysterious, suffered the barbarians 
to prevail, and his servant to become their capt ve : but such 
was the influence of his sacred character on their minds, that 
instead of insulting him in misfortune, they knelt to do him 
homage. 

The occasional exercise of supreme power over the Romans, 
by the emperor, has led Guizot to observe, that " the sove- 
reignty was not fully ascribed either to the Pope or to the 
emperor ; uncertain and undivided, it floated between them."f 
It appears by numberless facts, that the Pope was sovereign, 
and that an efficient protectorate was acknowledged in the 
emperor, who came, at his solicitation, to support him, and, in 
that conjuncture, exercised a temporary sovereignty. " We 
acknowledge," said Alexander III., " the lord emperor, in vir- 
tue of his dignity, advocate and special defender of the Holy 
Roman Church."J The prefect of the city made the oath of 
allegiance to him up to the time of Innocent III., which would 
be inconsistent with the recognition of papal sovereignty, 
were it not done with the consent of the Pontiff to provide 
for an extraordinary emergency. The municipal government 
of Rome seems to have been always in the hands of popular 
officers, after the manner of a republic, so that even the power 

* Voltaire, Puissance des Musulmans, ch. xxrr. 
f Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. iii., p. 76. 
% Apud Baron., an. 1159, p. 439. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



319 



of the Pope was seldom felt in the details of civil administra- 
tion. He interfered chiefly when the public danger required 
tl at the vessel of the State should be guided by a superior 
mind, and firm hand ; and he called for the support of the em- 
peror when physical force was necessary to subdue the rebel- 
lion of his own subjects. " The spirits, and even the institu- 
tions of the Romans," as Hallam remarks, " were republican. 
Amidst the darkness of the tenth century, which no contem- 
porary historian dissipates, we faintly distinguish the awful 
names of senate, cons lis, and tribunes, the domestic magis- 
tracy of Ro lie."* The origin of the pontifical sovereignty is 
traced by Gibbon to the necessity which the Romans felt of 
superior guidance and support, to which we must add, the 
voluntary submission of various cities, anxious to share the 
blessings of a mild protectorate. " By the necessity of their 
situation, the inhabitants of Rome were cast into the rough 
model of a republican government : they were compelled to 
elect some judges in peace, and some leaders in war : the 
nobles assembled to deliberate, and their resolves could not be 
executed without the union and consent of the multitude. The 
want of laws could only be supplied by the influence of reli- 
gion, and their foreign and domestic councils were moderated 
by the authority of the Bishop. His alms, his sermons, his 
correspondence with the kings and prelates of the West, his 
recent services, their gratitude and oath, accustomed the Ro- 
mans to consider him as the first magistrate, or prince, of the 
city. The Christian humility of the Popes," he adds, in a tone 
of irony, " was not offended by the name of Dominus, or Lord : 
and their face and inscription are still apparent on the most 
ancient coins. Their temporal dominion is now confirmed by 
the reverence of a thousand years, and their noblest title is 
the free choice of a people whom they had redeemed from 
slavery."! 

Under the influence of the seditious declamations of Arnold 
of Brescia, the Romans, during a considerable part of the 
twelfth century, were in revolt. Several Popes were forced 
to flee from their capital, and erect their chair in Perugia, Vi- 
terbo, or some other city of Italy, or to take refuge in France,, 

* Middle Ages, vol. i., ch. iii., par. i., p. 234. 

f Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xlix., A. D. 728. 



820 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



which gained the glorious title of the asylum of Popes. 
Sometimes the emperor came to their relief, and replaced them 
in safety on their throne. On other occasions, Heaven itself 
seemed to take their cause in hand, and by pestilence brought 
the disobedient Romans to a sense of duty. In 1230, after a 
calamitous visitation of this kind, caused by the inundation of 
the Tiber, they sent an embassy to Gregory IX., who for two 
years had been an exile in Perugia, beseeching him to return 
and bless his penitent children. The venerable Pontiff lavish- 
ed gifts on them, and " built a noble palace for the use of the 
poor ;" as his biographer assures us. 

The character of the pontifical government has been at all 
times paternal and protective ; whence, although popular dis- 
content has often manifested itself, especially through the 
intrigues of schismatical emperors, the people generally 
sought to enjoy its advantages. In the eighth century, as we 
learn from Anastasius, " some of those of Spoleto and Rieti 
came to Rome, entreating to be shaved ' alia maniera c/e' Ilo- 
mani] in token of their subjection to the Pope, rather than to 
the Lombards," and after the defeat of the Lombard king, 
Desiderius, the entire dukedom eagerly sought the same pri- 
vilege. The paternal character of the pontifical government 
is stated in a letter from the Senate and the Roman people to 
King Pepin, in the year 763, in the pontificate of Paul I. 
" They protest that they are firm and faithful servants of the 
holy Church of God, and of our most blessed father and lord 
Pope Paul, because he is our father and excellent pastor, and 
labors incessantly for our salvation, as his brother Pope Ste- 
phen likewise did, governing us as reasonable sheep commit- 
ted to him by God, and exhibiting clemency always, and imi- 
tating St. Peter, whose Vicar he is."* On the elevation of 
Innocent III., Conrad, duke of Spoleto and Assisi, seeing the 
eagerness of his subjects to enjoy pontifical protection, freed 
them from their oath of allegiance, and surrendered various 
fortresses into the hands of the Pontiff. Rieti, Spoleto, Assisi, 
Foligno, and Nuceri, with their whole districts, thus came into 
his power. Perugia likewise, Eugubium, Todi, and the city 

* This letter is the " thirty-sixth of the Caroline letters." I quote from 
" Rome as it was under Paganism, and as it became under the Popes, &c." 
Vol. ii., p. 317. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



321 



of Acquapendente, Montefiascone, and all Tuscany acknow- 
ledged his authority. 

The pontifical principality was greatly embarrassed by the 
high pretensions of the princes or barons within the States of 
the Church, until the reign of Alexander VI., when they were 
crushed by the strong arm of Cesar Borgia. From that time, the 
papal sovereignty was more extensively felt in the confedera- 
cies of princes : but for a long period the Pontiffs have main- 
tained a complete neutrality. 

Although the splendor of a throne may seem to correspond 
but ill with the lowly beginnings of the Roman Church, when 
the Syrian fisherman, preaching the folly of the cross, came 
unnoticed or despised into the city of the Cesars, we cannot 
doubt that Divine Providence has clothed his successor with 
this adventitious power, that he might exercise more indepen- 
dently the attributes of his spiritual office. His civil dominion 
is large enough to inspire respect, whilst it is not of such ex- 
tent as to render him formidable. It enables him to foster 
many ecclesiastical institutions of vast advantage to the Uni- 
versal Church, as well as to be a munificent patron of learn- 
ing, art, and science. Were he the subject of a temporal 
prince, the exercise of his authority would be always liable 
to the suspicion of constraint, or undue influence, and he 
might become, like the Bishop of Constantinople, " a domestic 
slave under the eye of his master, at whose nod he alternately 
passed from the convent to the throne, and from the throne 
to the convent."* The great Bossuet has well observed : 
" God wished this Church, which is the common mother of all 
kingdoms, not to be dependent on any kingdom in temporali- 
ties, that the See, in which all the faithful should preserve 
unity, might be above the partialities which the different in- 
terests and jealousies of States might occasion. The Church, 
independent in her head of all temporal power, is thereby 
able to exercise more freely, for the common benefit, and un- 
der the protection of Christian kings, this heavenly power of 
governing souls ; and holding in her hand the balance, in the 
midst of so many empires often at enmity, she maintains unity 
in all bodies, sometimes by inflexible decrees, and sometimes 
by wise temperaments."! 

* Decline and Fall, &c, ch. xlix., A. D. 726. 

f Discours sur l'Unite de l'Eglise, vol. xv., Op. Bossuet. See also the 



322 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



It must be acknowledged that there are inconveniences 
connected with the union of temporal sovereignty and spirit- 
ual supremacy in the one person ; yet it should be remembered 
that the powers are altogether distinct, since the former re- 
gards only the inhabitants of the Roman States, whilst the 
latter reaches to ths ends of the earth. The Pope is not as 
the Roman emperor, who in quality of sovereign Pontiff ex- 
ercised religious supremacy, cont oiled by no law but his will, 
and co-extensive with imperial sway. The civil administra- 
tion is carried on by tribunals and officers distinct from those 
that are charged with the general affairs of the Church, so 
that there is no confusion of powers. The policy pursued is 
indeed controlled by the great principles of the Gospel, to the 
disregard of mere expediency, the rule of most other cabinets, 
which is the great secret of its success : so that, as the Russian 
ambassador Italinsky observed : " it is the only court in which 
no complete blunder in politics is ever made."* This also is 
the reason of the great uniformity observable in the course of 
successive Popes, for, in general, as Gibbon remarks : " the 
same character was assumed, the same policy was adopted, 
by the Italian, the Greek, or the Syrian, who ascended the 
chair of St. Peter ; "f which is expressed by Voltaire in fewer 
words : " Vesprit de Rome vit toujours ;" J Rome's spirit never 
dies. The mild government of the Popes, and the light tax- 
ation to which the Romans were formerly subjected, provoked 
the envy of strangers, who regarded them as the happiest 
people in the world, but for the sanguinary collisions of the 
nobles,§ which have long since ceased. In truth, the lenity 
of the administration is its chief reproach ; but it still merits 
the tribute paid to it by the infidel historian: "If we calmly 
weigh the merits and defects of the ecclesiastical government, 
it may be praised in its present state as a mild, decent, and 
tranquil system, exempt from the dangers of a minority, the 
sallies of youth, the expenses of luxury, and the calamities 
of war."|| 

Under the present illustrious occupant of the pontifical 

Bull of excommunication : Quum memoranda, published by Pius VII. on 10 
June, 1809. 

* Histoire du Pape Leon XII., par Artaud, vol. i., p. 327. 

t Decline and Fall, &c, ch. xlix., A. D. 726-775. 

\ Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, t. ii., ch. xlviii. 

§ Decline and Fall, ch. lxx., A.D. 1459. || lb., A. D. 1500. 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



323 



throne, the paternal character of the government appears 
with increased lustre. With generous solicitude for the hap- 
piness of his subjects, he has anticipated their desires, by 
adopting, of his own accord, measures for the amelioration of 
their condition. It is strange that a respectable writer should 
choose such a time for foreboding the overthrow of the Roman 
See, in punishment of the alleged usurpations of its incum- 
bents. " Constantinople," says Dr. Jarvis, " has long since 
been punished for her usurpation. What will be the fate of 
Rome under Pius IX. ?"* We hope that its temporal condition 
will be improved without any diminution of the authority of 
so beneficent a prince ; but if his clemency and liberality 
should embolden the profane and seditious to tear from his 
brow the diadem which he wears with the applause of all 
nations, we have only to mourn over human depravity. " The 
better principality " which the Roman Church possessed in the 
days of Irenaeus, is altogether independent of earthly sove- 
reignty ; it will survive every change of governors, and modes 
of government, and will shine forth from a dungeon as well 
as from a throne. No vicissitudes of the Roman States can 
affect that spiritual authority, which, going forth from the See 
of the fisherman, is felt even in the midst of its enemies. The 
death of Pius VI. in exile, and the captivity of his successor, 
left little human hope that the States of the Church would be 
restored, or that the See itself would continue : but God, who 
casts the mighty from their seats, replaced the persecuted Pius 
VII. on the throne of Peter, amidst the boundless acclamations 
of a devoted people, and left his oppressor to perish on a 
desert island. 

It is a stale calumny that Catholics are vassals, or subjects 
of the Pope. He claims no temporal dominion over us, and 
we everywhere profess, with his full knowledge and entire 
approbation, unqualified allegiance to the respective civil 

* "A Reply to Doctor Milner's £ End of Religious Controversy,' by Samuel 
Farmar Jarvis, D.D., L.L.D." The learned chronologist takes 587, the year 
in which the title of oecumenical was assumed by the Bishop of Constantino- 
ple, as the basis of his calculation — makes years of the 1260 days mentioned 
in Jhe Apocalypse — and, as if Rome were Constantinople, gives us, as the re- 
sult of his study of the prophecies, the overthrow of the Roman See in the 
year which has just terminated : " If to 587 we add the great prophetic pe- 
riod of 1260 years, it brings us to the very year in which I am writing, A. D. 
1847." P. 246. 



324 



PATRIMONY OF ST. PETER. 



governments under which we live. The fathers of the fifth 
Council of Baltimore took occasion to state this distinctly in 
their address to the late venerable Pontiff, which was most 
graciously received. At the request of the sixth Council, his 
present Holiness has simplified the oath taken by bishops at 
their consecration, omitting the terms and phrases which savor 
of feudal times, although they do not anywhere receive a 
feudal interpretation. Thus all pretext for questioning our 
allegiance is removed, although our adversaries still object to 
us the acts of former Popes, who interfered in the civil con- 
cerns of Christian nations, and in the controversies of princes. 
It will not be uninteresting to review historically those facts, 
in order to reconcile our present professions with past trans- 
actions. 



CHAPTER IL 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 

§ 1. In Matters of Faith and Morals. 

Although the Roman States form but a small principality, 
which gives little importance to its ruler, and the Bishop of 
Rome, of divine right, has no political or civil power, yet, in 
the things of salvation, he is above all the members of the 
Church, whatever be their rank — the monarch of vast domi- 
nions, as well as the lowliest slave. All men are naturally 
equal, and all the members of the Church are children of God, 
subject to His authority, which on earth is exercised especially 
by the Chief Bishop. The divine sovereignty requires that 
every soul be subject to God, rendering homage to His truth, 
and obedience to His commandments. The acts of the Pon- 
tiff, in the lawful discharge of his ecclesiastical supremacy, 
are to be respected by all who acknowledge him as, under 
Christ, the ruler of the Church. Hence, when Pope Felix, in 
484, had deprived of communion Acacius, the Bishop of Con- 
stantinople, he made known the fact to the Emperor Zeno, 
urging him to give the support of his authority to this decree, 
and observing, that it was more for his advantage to obey the 
Church in this matter, than, by countenancing the heretical 
prelate, to attempt to control it. Yet none were more ex- 
plicit than the Pontiffs in avowing the independence of the 
civil power within its own sphere, and in giving to sovereigns 
the honor due to their high station. With a jealous regard to 
the interests of truth, they united an unfeigned deference for 
civil rulers. The mutual relations of the ecclesiastical and 
civil authorities were beautifully expressed by Pope Gelasius, 
at the close of the fifth century, in a letter of apology written 
to the Emperor Anastasius, who had complained that the 



326 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



Pontiff had not congratulated him on his accession to the im- 
perial throne. Well-grounded suspicions of heterodoxy had 
caused this reserve, to which Gelasius alludes : " God forbid 
that a Roman prince should feel offended at the declaration of 
the truth ! There are two things, august emperor, whereby 
this world is governed, namely, the sacred authority of Pon- 
tiffs and the royal power, wherein the weight of priestly 
authority is so much the greater, as in the divine judgment 
priests must render to the Lord an account for kings them- 
selves. For you know, most clement son, that although you 
preside over men, you devoutly bend the neck to the dispensers 
of the divine mysteries, and ask from them the means of sal- 
vation : and in the reception and proper administration of the 
heavenly sacraments, you know that you should be subject to 
them according to the religious rule, rather than preside over 
them. You are aware, then, that as to these things you de- 
pend on their judgment, and that they are not to be forced to 
compliance with your will. For if, as regards public order, 
the prelates of the Church, knowing that the empire has been 
confided to you by Divine Providence, obey your laws, lest 
they should appear to oppose your will in things of this world, 
with what affection should you obey them, who are appointed 
to dispense the awful mysteries ! Wherefore, as the Pont ffs 
incur a serious responsibility if they suppress what they should 
declare for the honor of the Deity, so the danger is great of 
others who insolently refuse obedience. And if the hearts of 
the faithful should be submissive to all priests in general who 
treat divine things properly, how much more should assent 
be yielded to the Prelate of this See, whom the supreme Lord 
ordained to preside over all priests, and whom the piety of the 
Universal Church has always honored ! You clearly under- 
stand that no one can, by any human device, oppose the pre- 
rogative or confession of him, whom the voice of Christ pre- 
ferred to all others, whom the holy Church has always ac- 
knowledged, and whom she now devoutly regards as her 
Primate."* 

This has been deservedly regarded as an admirable expo- 
sition of the relations of Catholic princes to the prelacy. The 
power of the prince is supreme in the civil order : the power 



* Gelasii, ep. iv., ad Anastasium, col. 893, t. ii., Hard. 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



327 



of the Pontiff is supreme in things spiritual. The civil and 
the ecclesiastical powers are from God ; the former by His 
implied sanction of the means of maintaining social order ; 
the latter by the direct institution of Christ. In both, the 
sovereignty of God must be honored. The civil power extends 
to all things necessary for the maintenance and welfare of 
society, but it cannot command anything opposed to the di- 
vine law. The ecclesiastical authority is engaged in the pro- 
mulgation of truth and the maintenance of discipline, with a 
due respect for public order, as regulated by the civil power. 

Catholic sovereigns, as members of the Church, are bound 
by her laws, and subject to the penalties which are attached 
to their transgression. The prince and the peasant, the lord 
and the slave, share her privileges on the same conditions, and 
are liable to be deprived of them in punishment of infidelity 
or disobedience. Her arms are not carnal, but powerful before 
God — she strikes with the apostolic rod, chastising the children 
whom she loves with maternal fondness, that they may cor- 
rect the evil of their ways, and prove themselves worthy of the 
heavenly inheritance. The Pope, as head on earth of the 
Church, exercises, by divine right, authority over Catholic 
princes in the things that are of salvation. When by flagrant 
crimes they cause the name of God to be blasphemed, he may 
admonish and reprove them, as Nathan reproved David by the 
divine command ; and, in case of contumacy, he may inflict 
on them ecclesiastical censures. The exercise of this power 
peculiarly suits the Chief Bishop, since local prelates could 
scarcely venture to say to their prince : " Thou art the man." 
The majesty of the sovereign is guarded, by reserving cases 
in which he is concerned to the mature and unbiassed judg- 
ment of the Pontiff. 

The means which, in the middle ages, were employed by the 
Popes for the reformation of princes, after admonition and 
threats, was the actual infliction of ecclesiastical censures. 
These were of two kinds, interdict and excommunication. By 
the former the solemnities of public worship were suspended 
throughout the whole kingdom, the sacred functions of abso- 
lute necessity being at all times permitted, and the mysteries 
being privately celebrated. This interruption of religious 
worship, casting a gloom over the whole nation, was a signi- 
ficant expression of the horror of the Church for the crime of 



328 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



the sovereign, in which respect it served as a reparation of the 
scandal. It was hoped, also, that by the general affliction 
which it occasioned, he would be awakened to a sense of his 
misconduct, and that he would, by speedy repentance, ward 
off any personal censure. The clouds which thickened around 
the throne foreboded the thunderbolt which was soon to fall 
on the impenitent monarch. When every other measure had 
failed to produce amendment, excommunication, the highest 
penalty which the Church can inflict, followed. By it the trans- 
gressor was cut off entirely from the communion of the faithful, 
and cast forth as a heathen and publican. Even as the inces- 
tuous Corinthian was delivered over by St. Paul to Satan for 
the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in 
the day of Christ, the scandalous occupant of the throne was 
deprived of all spiritual privileges, separated from the Church 
of God, and left to perish eternally, unless by repentance he 
atoned for his transgression. The infliction of this penalty 
was plainly within the sphere of ecclesiastical power, which 
can bind as well as loose, with the assurance that Heaven will 
ratify the just exercise of this spiritual authority. In the com- 
mencement of the sixth century, Pope S} r mmachus excommu- 
nicated the heretical Emperor Anastasius. That the crimes of 
sovereigns could not be effectually corrected by the local clergy, 
is eloquently stated by a recent writer : " Now, we say, that 
the priesthood never could have stood their ground in such an 
age, against kings and their powerful vassals, as an indepen- 
dent moral authority, entitled to advise, to reprimand, and, if 
need were, to denounce, if they had not been bound together 
into an European body, under a government of their own. . . No 
local, no merely national organization, would have sufficed. 
The state has too strong a hold upon an exclusively national 
corporation. Nothing but an authority recognised by many 
nations, and not essentially dependent upon any one, could in 
that age have been adequate to the post. It required a Pope 
to speak with authority to kings and emperors. Had an indi- 
vidual priest even had the courage to tell them that they vio- 
lated the law of God, his voice, not being the voice of the 
Church, would not have been heeded. That the Pope, when 
he pretended to depose kings, or made war upon them with 
temporal arms, went beyond his province, needs hardly, in the 
present day, be insisted upon. But when he claimed the right 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



329 



of censuring and denouncing them, with whatever degree of 
solemnity, in the name of the moral law which all recognised, 
he assumed a function necessary at all times, and which, in 
these days, no one except the Church could assume, or was in 
any degree qualified to exercise."* The success with which 
this power was exercised is attested by Leibnitz : " It is be- 
yond question that the Popes checked many disorders, by their 
efforts in season and out of season, remonstrating with princes, 
as their authority enabled them to do, and threatening them 
with ecclesiastical censures."-)- 

Instances of this exercise of pontifical zeal abound in the his- 
tory of the Church. Clement IV., on learning the victory obtain- 
ed by James, king of Aragon, over the Moors, congratulated with 
him, but at the same time he admonished him to subdue his own 
passions, by p tting away from him Berengaria, the object of 
unlawful attachment. The prince pleaded the infirmity of his 
wife Therasia, and asked for a divorce. The reply of the 
Pontiff began with these words : " How shall the Vicar of God 
separate those whom God has united ? " Subsequently James, 
having communicated to Clement his determination to engage 
in the holy war, was again admonished to dismiss his concu- 
bine in the first place, since no effort of zeal could otherwise 
be acceptable to our Lord : " You cannot," he observes, 
"please our crucified Lord, or avenge His wrongs, if you will 
not abstain from offending Him. Moreover, we wish you to 
understand, that unless you obey our admonitions, we shall 
force you, by ecclesiastical censures, to dismiss her."J 

Ladislaus, king of Pannonia, giving himself over to un- 
bridled licentiousness, after several solemn admonitions, was 
excommunicated by the legate of Martin IV. The nobles, in- 
dignant at his excesses, rose up against him, and drove away 
his concubines. § 

In several instances injured queens found succor and pro- 
tection from the father of the faithful, who, by the threat of 
ecclesiastical censures, forced the monarch to restore to them 
their rights. Theutberge, the wife of Lothaire L was divorced 
from her husband on an allegation of incest, which, although 

* Edinburgh Review, No. 159, January, 1844. Review of Michelet's His- 
tory of France. 

t Dissert, i., de act. publ. usu op. t. iv., p. 299. 

t Raynald, an. 1267. § lb., an. 1281. 



330 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



groundless, she was prevailed on to admit, on which account 
the divorce was approved of in the local Councils of Metz 
and Aix-la-Chapelle. The legates of Nicholas I. were even 
induced to sanction it : but the Pope himself nobly vindicated 
the cause of the calumniated queen ; annulled the decrees of 
the Councils, and the acts of his legates ; ordered the monarch, 
under penalty of excommunication, to dismiss Waldrade, his 
concubine, whom he had taken as a lawful wife, under the 
pretext of the divorce ; refused to give any credit to the forced 
confession of the queen, and successfully maintained her rights. 
Guizot remarks, that this exercise of pontifical supremacy was 
applauded by the nation generally, because it was well known 
to be founded on justice. It is no slight eulogium of the Holy 
See that it successfully supported the cause of an injured wo- 
man against a licentious and powerful prince. Innocent III., 
with admirable constancy, maintained the cause of Ingelburga, 
the wife of Philip Augustus, who appealed to his authority.* 
Friendless in a foreign land, the object of aversion to him to 
whom she had plighted her affections, and from whom she was 
divorced on false pretexts, the unfortunate Danish princess felt 
that though France was false, her voice could reach her spiri- 
tual father, at whose rebuke the proudest monarchs trembled. 
She cried for help, and found it. After sixteen years of unjust 
exile from the palace, she was reinstated in her rights. 

In many instances the Popes inflicted censures on princes 
who violated the ecclesiastical law by marrying within the 
forbidden degrees. The justice of this exercise of authority 
will strike only those who acknowledge the force of those laws. 
I would merely remark, that the princes were subject to them 
equally as the humblest of the faithful, and consequently lia- 
ble to be punished by ecclesiastical censures for their violation. 
The end of these laws is to preserve the purity of morals, by 
taking away the hope of intermarriage from such as are placed 
in intimate relations in domestic life, by reason of kindred. If 
their force had not been maintained in regard to princes, as 
well as people, not only would discipline have suffered, but 
Christian morals would have been deeply injured. " It is 

* See Life of Innocent III., by Hurter. Whilst yet a Lutheran, Hurter 
devoted twenty years of diligent research to the compilation of this splendid 
biography. God has recently consoled the Church by his conversion. 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



331 



known," says Michaud, " that the excommunication fulminated 
against Philip I., as well as others subsequently hurled against 
Louis VII. and Philip Augustus, were in a great measure 
grounded on the violation of the laws of marriage. It may 
then be observed that the power of the Popes served to main- 
tain the sanctity of an institution, which is the first basis of 
society. In barbarous ages, what other barrier could be op- 
posed to licentiousness in a contract in which the passions 
have so great a share ? " # 

§ 2. In Secular Concerns. 

At the present day no authority of a civil or political nature 
is claimed by the Pope beyond his own States : yet nothing is 
more remarkable in the history of the middle ages, than his in- 
terference in the controversies of princes and the internal dis- 
sensions of kingdoms and republics. To understand this phe- 
nomenon, we must take into consideration the position which 
he occupied in regard to the temporal powers. The conver- 
sion of princes to Christianity disposed them to regard with 
reverence the teaching of the Church, and to seek counsel in 
the moral difficulties which occurred in the exercise of the go- 
verning power. When they bowed to receive their diadems 
from the consecrated hands of the Pontiff, they regarded them- 
selves as exercising, with dependence on the King of kings, a 
delegated sovereignty. The independent position of the Bishop 
of Rome, freed from the yoke of the Eastern emperors, and en- 
dowed with a considerable principality, was hallowed by his 
spiritual supremacy. The memory of the glories of ancient 
Rome was almost obliterated, since barbarian hordes had over- 
run her territories, and all was confusion and disorder, when 
Leo III., at the opening of the ninth century, felt himself im- 
pelled to call Charlemagne to the imperial throne. At the un- 
expected salutation given to the prince, amidst the solemnities 
of mass, at the altar of St. Peter's, thousands of Romans and 
strangers re-echoed with deafening acclamations : " Long live 
the august emperor of the Romans ! " All regarded the act as 
inspired, and doubted not that order and harmony would arise 
from chaos, at the bidding of the holy Pontiff. From that time 
the Bishop of Rome necessarily enjoyed an immense influence 



* Histoire des Croisades, 1. i., n. 102. 



332 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



over the empire, and the kingdoms which arose under its sha- 
dow, and he was regarded by princes and people as their fa- 
ther and judge. He created the new order of things : he as- 
signed to each potentate his place in the political world : and 
controlled by his laws the movements of each, in order to 
maintain the general harmony. His relations to the empire 
were most direct, since he determined who should elect the 
emperor, and claimed the right of examining whether the indi- 
vidual chosen was admissible. His authority was constantly 
invoked in support of other princes, or to recall them to duty : 
and his tribunal was regarded as the supreme court of the 
Christian confederacy. It seemed a common instinct of all 
Christian nations to appeal to his justice for the redress of 
every grievance for which the local authority proved insuffi- 
cient, and to implore his power for the punishment of those 
whose station placed them beyond the reach of municipal law. 
He was, in fact, by common consent, judge, not only in cases 
strictly ecclesiastical, or in the private concerns of obscure in- 
dividuals, but in civil matters, where flagrant wrongs were 
perpetrated by crowned heads. He was called on to inter- 
pose his authority : he was blamed if he hesitated : he was 
feared by delinquents of every class ; by the haughty baron 
and proud emperor, as well as by the humble vassal ; and 
when the thunder of his censure rolled, the prison doors flew 
open, the hand of avarice let fall the wages of injustice, and 
the knees of the oppressor beat together. " Certainly nothing 
so hampered the free working of the lawless and arbitrary 
spirit of feudalism, as the existence of this system in the Church. 
Nations and their rulers could not feel that moral irresponsi- 
bility which they have since gained. They were members of 
Christendom, as well as distinct political bodies; united as 
Christians to others, and accountable as Christians to the 
whole Church. There was a standard recognised by all, 
higher than that of political expediency ; a commonly-acknow- 
ledged law, able to reach and visit crimes, which national 
laws were ready to screen, or were too weak to punish. There 
was an appeal from all earthly tribunals to one, not merely 
higher, but different in kind. An appeal to the See of Rome 
was not only virtually an appeal to the whole of Christendom, 
it was also an appeal to the judgment-seat of our Lord."* 

* British Critic, No. LXY., p. 36. 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



333 



It is certainly in the power of the nations to constitute a su- 
preme civil tribunal to adjust their controversies, and the fact 
of its establishment is equally proved by their acts, as by any 
formal compact. If they thereby parted with any portion of 
their sovereignty and independence, it was with great advan- 
tage to their common interests. Voltaire himself has remark- 
ed, that " the interest of mankind requires a restraint on sove- 
reigns, and protection for their subjects : this power might be 
in the hands of the Popes, in virtue of a universal compact. 
The Pontiffs, interfering in temporal disputes only with a 
view to settle them, admonishing kings and nations of their 
duties, reproving their crimes, reserving excommunications for 
great enormities, would have been always regarded as hold- 
ing the place of God on earth ; but men now prefer to have 
the laws and usages of their country as their only protection, 
although the laws are frequently disregarded, and corrupt 
usages prevail."* " We must," says Saint-Priest, " agree with 
the Roman school, that the temporal power of the Holy See 
was far less the result of usurpation, than a consequence of 
the policy, or rather of the false position of princes. The secu- 
lar powers themselves, in. their rivalries, wars, remorses and 
scruples, invoked pontifical intervention, and sought its sup- 
port sometimes for their inferiority in arms, sometimes for their 
trepidation and weakness of mind."f Michaud, the recent 
historian of the crusades, says : " Complaints were sometimes 
made of the injustice of the judgment pronounced by the head 
of the Church, but his right to judge Christian princes was 

* This extraordinary avowal is made in reference to the penance perform- 
ed by Henry II. for having given occasion to the assassination of St. Thomas 
Becket. The reader will be pleased to read the original words : " II devait 
se repentir d'un assassinat ; l'interet du genre humain demande un frein qui 
retienne les souverains, et qui mette a couvert la vie des peuples. Ce frein 
de la religion aurait pu etre par une convention universelle dans la main des 
Papes, comme nous l'avons deja remarque. Ces premiers pontifes en ne se 
melant des querelles temporelles que pour les appaiser, en avertissant les rois 
et les peuples de leurs devoirs, en reprenant leurs crimes, en reservant les 
excommunications pour les grands attentats, auraient toujours ete regardes 
comme des images de Dieu sur la terre ; mais les hommes sont red aits a 
n'avoir pour leur defense que les loix et les moeurs de leur pays : loix souvent 
meprisees, et moeurs souvent corrompues." Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, 
ch. xlvi., t. ii. 

f Histoire de la Royaute, vol. ii., 1. viii., p. 359. 

21 



334 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



scarcely called in question, and the nations almost uniformly 
received his judgments without a murmur."* 

In order to show how this influence in secular concerns was 
insensibly acquired, it may be proper to give some instances 
of the eagerness with which princes sought from the Popes 
the recognition of their royal titles, or to be promoted to the 
royal dignity, and of the submission which they professed to 
the pontifical authority. St. Stephen, King of Hungary, ac- 
knowledged to have received his crown and title from Syl- 
vester II. Alphonsus, duke of Portugal, received the royal 
title from Alexander III., in reward of his exploits against the 
Arabs. Primislaus was recognised as king of Bohemia by 
Innocent III., at the solicitation of the emperor, Otho. Calo- 
Joannes obtained from the same Pontiff the crown and title 
of king of the Bulgarians. Peter of Aragon was not content 
with the title which his predecessors had borne, but asked of 
Innocent to be solemnly crowned, that a religious sanction 
might be given to his authority. Stephen, on succeeding to 
the crown of England, swore to preserve the liberty of the 
Church, and said that he had been chosen king with the assent 
of the clergy and the people, and had been confirmed in the 
kingdom by Innocent, Pontiff of the Holy Roman See.f 

The King of Servia, on abandoning schism, sent an embassy 
to Honorius III. to obtain the pontifical recognition of his 
royal title. This act was intended to secure to the prince his 
proper place in the great Christian confederacy, and to obtain 
a divine blessing on his kingdom. Addressing the Pontiff, he 
says : " As all Christians love and honor you, and regard you 
as their father and lord, so we desire to be styled a child of 
the holy Roman Church, and your child ; being anxious that 
the blessing and confirmation of God, and yours, should al- 
ways be manifest on our crown and land." J Daniel, duke 
of Russia, in 1246, obtained the royal crown and title from the 
legate of Innocent IV. The princes were not insensible of 
their titles to royal power, as deri ved from descent, conquest, 
or popular will ; but they felt that they needed the divine 
blessing in order to exercise it advantageously. 

Many princes, from a feeling of devotion to the Holy See, 

* Hist, des Croisades, t. iv., p. 163. f Baron., an. 1135, p. 341. 
% Raynald., an. 1220. 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



335 



freely offered themselves as vassals of St. Peter, which, ac- 
cording to the notions then prevalent, implied no degradation, 
but rather independence of the imperial power, with a nomi- 
nal subjection to the Pontiff. The apostolic king of Hungary 
gloried in this vassalage : the king of Portugal made his 
dominions tributary : the king of Aragon swore fealty : the 
king of Dalmatia paid tribute to the Pope as liege lord : and 
Stephen, and Henry II. of England, before the humiliation of 
John, acknowledged that England was a fief of the Holy 
See. It is not just to form to ourselves a false idea of this 
dependence, and thence to take occasion to despise the princes 
who acknowledged it, and to censure the Popes who enforced 
it. It consisted chiefly in the payment of a small annual 
pension towards the general fund, for the most important 
wants of the Church, and in the manifestation of greater zeal 
for the defence of the Holy See, when assailed by powerful 
enemies. It disposed the prince to listen with greater docility 
to the admonitions of the Pontiff, in behalf of religion, and of 
the people, and it procured for him pontifical influence and 
protection, when the royal authority was assailed by rebels, 
or by rival princes. When Waldemar, king of Denmark, a 
vassal of the Holy See, was thrown into prison by Henry, 
count of Zeverin, Honorius III., at the instance of the prelates 
and nobles, interposed his authority to rescue the king, and 
urged the emperor, Frederick, to come to his relief, beseeching 
him, however, to spare the life of the rebel count.* John, of 
England, got the support of Innocent against the revolted 
barons : whose just claims the Pontiff, nevertheless, promised 
to sustain. In Sicily, and other original possessions of the 
Holy See, greater authority was claimed by the Pope, as 
liege lord ; but in kingdoms voluntarily made feudatory, the 
dependence was almost nominal. 

Although the social relations of the Popes to the secular 
powers gave occasion to their interference in temporal con- 
troversies, yet they did not act as temporal superiors, but they 
availed themselves of their position to apply the maxims of 
the Christian law to the subjects in dispute, and used their 
spiritual authority, by ecclesiastical censures, to enforce their 
judgment. The principles on which they acted were distinctly 



Raynald., an. 1223. 



336 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



stated by Innocent III., when Philip of France resisted his in- 
terference to stop the ravages of war between him and Richard 
Coeur de Leon. Disclaiming distinctly all right to judge of 
the title to the fief in dispute,* he insisted that he was au- 
thorized to take away the privileges of ecclesiastical commu- 
nion from a prince who wantonly shed human blood, whilst 
he could obtain his just demands by amicable arbitration : 
" No one doubts," he says, " that it belongs to our office to 
judge of the things which appertain to the salvation or 
damnation of the soul. Is it not deserving of eternal damna- 
tion, and of the loss of eternal life, to nourish discord, to 
attack those who are of the household of the faith, to destroy 
religious establishments, to give over to pillage the property 
destined for the wants and advantage of religious men, to 
oppress virgins consecrated to God ? " — " Hearken, then, dearly 
beloved son, not to our word, but rather to the word of the 
Word, which was in the beginning with God, and which 
finally was made flesh, and dwelt among us : ' If thy brother 
sin against thee, go and reprove him between him and thee 
alone. If he will not hear thee, take with thee two or three, 
that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may 
stand. But if he will not hear them, tell the Church ; and if 
he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen 
and publican.' Behold ! the king of England, your brother, 
brother not by carnal kindred, but in the unity of faith, com- 
plains that you sin against him, and stretch forth your hands 
to injure him, as you have already done ; he has rebuked you 
already between him and you alone, both by letters and by 
word of mouth, not once, but frequently, and warned you to 
desist from injuring him. He has taken with him not merely 
two or three witnesses, but many nobles, to renew the bonds 
of peace which were broken, and to use their influence to 
induce you to desist from wrong. But inasmuch as hitherto 
he has not succeeded with your highness, he has denounced 
you to the Church as sinning against him : and the Church 
has chosen to address you with maternal affection, rather than 
to use her judicial power, and therefore she has not authori- 
tatively rebuked you, — but mildly admonished you to desist 

* " Non ratione feudi, cujus ad eum spectat judicium, sed occasione pec- 
cati, cujus ad nos pertinet sine dubitatione censura." Ep. clxvi., apud Ray- 
nald, an. 1203. 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



337 



from injuring your brother, and to make with him a lasting 
peace, or, at least, a truce. What, then, remains, if you refuse 
to hear the Church, as hitherto you have refused, but, what it 
pains us to say, to regard you as a heathen and a publican, 
and to shun you after the first and second rebuke ? If we 
must offend either you or God, we choose rather to appease 
Him, although we incur your displeasure, than please an 
earthly king by offending the Divine Ruler. — Shall we hesitate 
to proceed according to the commandment of the Lord, when 
we shall have more fully investigated the case, and ascer- 
tained the truth ? Shall we dissemble the carnage of bodies 
and ruin of souls, and not declare to the wicked their impiety, 
and restrain the violent from outrage?"* Honorius III., in 
1225, insisted that, as sovereign Pontiff, he had a right to 
extirpate mortal sin, even when committed by kings, which 
sometimes requires measures of coercion, f 

These views were generally entertained, so that sovereigns 
themselves put them forward with the greatest earnestness, 
when they found it necessary to implore the aid of pontifical 
authority against other princes. Richard Coeur de Leon, on 
his return from Palestine, was treacherously arrested by the 
duke of Austria, and thrown into prison. His mother, Queen 
Eleonora, appealed to Celestine III. to use his spiritual sword, 
in order to force the duke to relax his grasp. The Pontiff 
appeared to hesitate, on which account the anxious mother 
thus addressed him : " The nations that are convulsed by dis- 
sension, the people torn asunder by strife, the desolate pro- 
vinces, and generally the whole Western Church, sunk in 
grief, in a contrite and humble heart supplicate you, whom 
God has established over nations and kingdoms, with all ful- 
ness of power. Let, I beseech you, the cry of the afflicted 
enter into your ears, for our calamities are multiplied above 
number. You cannot dissemble them without guilt and in- 
famy, since you are the Vicar of Christ, successor of Peter, 
priest of Christ, anointed of the Lord, and even god of Pharao. 
Let judgment, O ! father, proceed from your mouth, let your 
eyes see justice. The desires of the people depend on your 
will, and your clemency ; and unless your hand quickly lay 
hold on judgment, the whole of this criminal tragedy will 



* Apud Raynald, an. 1203. 



f Ep. 169, Rai., n. 30. 



338 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



redound to your detriment, since you are father of the orphans, 
and the judge of afflicted widows, the consoler of those that 
mourn, and a city of refuge to all.* The Pontiff having de- 
layed to comply with her petition, the queen addressed him in 
terms of reproach : " Since the innocence of the king my son 
is testified by those who are near, and by those who are afar 
off, you have no excuse for your sin : for what excuse can pal- 
liate your neglect and injustice, since all see that you have 
the power of liberating my son, and have not the will? Is 
not every kingdom, and every power committed to the direc- 
tion of Peter the apostle, and in him to you ? Blessed be the 
Lord who gave such powers to men. Neither king, nor empe- 
ror, nor duke, is exempt from the yoke of your jurisdiction. 
Where, then, is the zeal of Phinees ? where is the authority of 
Peter? where is one to say: 'The zeal of thy house hath eaten 
me up ? ' Let it be made manifest that it is not in vain that 
two-edged swords have been put in your hands and those of 
your fellow-bishops. ' Say to the unjust : Do not act unjustly, 
and to those that sin : Do not uplift your horn.' Let not the 
venerable succession of the apostolic dignity degenerate in the 
heir of Peter. Recognise your own principality, prove your 
zeal, gird yourself for the great work, and do honor to your 
ministry. Let your glory pass to posterity, and let a future 
age know how vain was the presumption of the tyrant, and 
how powerfully the Roman See punished it."f Again the 
impatience of the weeping mother importuned the tardy Pon- 
tiff : " The prince of the apostles still reigns and commands in 
the Apostolic See, and judicial severity is ready to be exer- 
cised. It remains for you, O ! father, to unsheath against the 
wicked the sword of Peter, whom he established for this pur- 
pose over nations and kingdoms. The cross of Christ excels 
the eagles of Cesar, the sword of Peter is above the sword of 
Constantine, and the Apostolic See is superior to the imperial 
power. Is your power from God, or from men ? Has not the 
God of gods spoken to you in the person of Peter the apostle, 
saying : ' Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound 
also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, 
shall be loosed also in heaven ?' Why, then, do you so long 
delay neglectfully, or, rather, cruelly, or why do you not ven- 



* Bar., an. 1193, p. 863. 



f Ibidem, p. 865. 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



339 



ture to loose my son from his bonds ? You may tell me that 
the power was given you over the souls, not the bodies. Be 
it so: we are satisfied if you bind the souls of those who keep 
my son in chains. You can easily set my son free, if the fear 
of God banish from your heart the fear of man." * 

Strong as are the expressions of these letters, it is evident 
that they implore the exercise of the spiritual authority. The 
Pontiff is doubtless above kings and nations in his spiritual 
capacity, and the queen was confident that her son would be 
set at liberty, if Celestine menaced to strike with excommuni- 
cation those who held him a prisoner. Accordingly, Leopold, 
duke of Austria, was subjected to this penalty, with which 
even the emperor and king of France were threatened, being 
understood to have concurred to the arrest. These measures 
resulted in the liberation of the captive prince. King Richard 
himself, when set at liberty, implored the pontifical power for 
the liberation of his hostages, and induced Celestine to issue 
an excommunication against the duke of Austria, and all 
others who had concurred to his imprisonment, contrary to the 
security guaranteed to the crusaders. f The Emperor Henry 
fell under a like censure. 

The language of these documents may seem to imply a 
claim to authority at all times in secular concerns, as far as 
they involve moral principle, to be enforced by ecclesiastical 
censures : yet they do not necessarily suppose a right on the 
part of the Pontiff to take cognizance of such matters, inde- 
pendently of the act of the parties interested, or of general 
usage, or of the special relations of superior and judge in such 
controversies. The divine law, doubtless, embraces all classes 
of men, princes and people, and all varieties of human actions, 
political as well as personal. The chief Pastor of the Church 
is placed on his high eminence to proclaim the command of 
God, and in His name to instruct in justice those that judge 
the earth. As expounder of the moral law, he speaks to all 
with power and authority, condemning all that God has for- 
bidden, and inculcating the observance of each divine com- 
mandment. He can cast forth from the Church every one, 
prince or subject, who is notoriously guilty of flagrant immo- 
rality, if he will not yield to paternal admonition. But secu- 



* Baron., an. 1193, p. 867. | Baron., an. 1195, p. 886. 



340 



AUTHORITY OVER PRINCES. 



lar concerns are not, of themselves, subject to his cognizance : 
and the complicated social relations which arise from the free 
acts of individuals, or from public law, or from the action of 
the civil authorities, are not the matter of his judgment, unless 
they be submitted to him by those who are interested. If 
called on to declare their moral character, he may judge of 
them by applying to them the Christian maxims : but he can 
pronounce sentence on such individuals only as are subject to 
his jurisdiction. In the middle ages, kings and nations im- 
plored his judgment, and consequently brought within the 
sphere of his authority those secular transactions and contro- 
versies, of which otherwise he might have said, in the words 
of our Redeemer, to those who called for his interference : 
" Who hath appointed me judge over you ? " * Whence- 
soever the conviction of his right to take cognizance of them 
may be supposed to have arisen, it was universally admitted, 
and it was consequently a part of the public and common law 
of nations. Guizot testifies that it was generally believed, in 
the middle of the ninth century, that he was above temporal 
governments, even in temporal affairs, when connected with 
religion :f he might have qualified it by adding, in their moral 
aspect, since he observes that it was by developing the princi- 
ples of morality ecclesiastics exercised power over govern- 
ments. 

* Luke xii. 14. f Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. iii., p. 81. 



CHAPTER HI. 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



Philanthropists often speculate on the propriety of establish- 
ing a peace tribunal among nations, to settle the various con- 
troversies which may arise, without "the proud control of 
fierce and bloody war : " yet they seldom reflect that such tri- 
bunal existed in the middle ages, in the person of the Roman 
Pontiff. The warlike spirit of the Northern barbarians, which 
still survived in their descendants, should be understood, in 
order fully to appreciate the services which the Popes render- 
ed to society in restraining it, Their efforts were not always 
successful, but their merit was no less in endeavoring to stem 
the torrent of human passion, and their success was sufficient 
to entitle them to the praise of having effectually labored to 
substitute moral and religious influence for brute force. As 
ministers of the Prince of peace, they often interposed spon- 
taneously, and with arms powerful before God opposed the 
marauder, even though wearing a crown, who rushed for- 
ward to shed human blood. The fathers of the Council of 
Rheims, in 1119, under the presidency of Callistus II., were 
engaged in ecclesiastical deliberations, when the Pontiff com- 
municated to them overtures of peace which had reached him 
from Henry V. He informed them that he must repair to the 
place which the emperor had appointed for an interview, and 
promised to return to close the Council : " Afterwards," said 
he, " I shall wait on the king of England, my god-child and 
relative, and exhort him and Count Theobald, his nephew, 
and others who are at variance, to come to a reconciliation, 
that each, for the love of God, may do justice to the other, 
and according to the law of God, all of them being pacified, 
may abandon war, and with their subjects enjoy the security 



342 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



of perfect peace. But such as will not obey our admonitions, 
and will continue to disturb the public peace, I will strike 
with the awful sentence of anathema." # 

In the same venerable assembly appeared Louis the Fat, 
king of France, surrounded by his nobles, and having ad- 
vanced forward to the platform on which the Pope was seated 
on his throne, he urged his complaint against the English 
king : " I come," he said, " with my barons, to this holy assem- 
bly to seek counsel, my lord the Pope : and you, reverend pre- 
lates, hear me. The king of England has violently invaded 
Normandy, a province of my kingdom : he has treated in a 
detestable manner Duke Robert, his own brother and my 
vassal, whom he has seized, and at this time he actually 
holds him prisoner. I have frequently demanded his libera- 
tion, through bishops and counts, whom I sent to him for this 
object, but all without effect. William, the son of the captive 
duke, stands here before you, despoiled of the inheritance of 
his father." f This appeal shows the confidence with which 
sovereigns themselves appealed to the Pontiff, in the most 
solemn circumstances, to obtain through his influence what 
might not be otherwise hoped for, without the shedding of 
much blood. 

Long before this period, the mediatorial offices of the Pon- 
tiff were sought by princes unable to resist the superior force 
which threatened them. In the year 787, Thassilo, duke of 
Bavaria, implored iVdrian I. to intercede with Charlemagne, 
and obtain for him equitable terms. The charity of the Pon- 
tiff did not hesitate to accept the commission ; but when the 
ambassadors of the duke professed themselves unauthorized 
to accede to the conditions, Adrian thought that he could em- 
ploy the censures of the Church against him, on account of 
his bad faith, and declared that the monarch would be guilt- 
less of the blood which might be shed in chastising the per- 
fidious prince. The same penalty was inflicted by St. Leo 
IX. on Andrew, King of Hungary, for refusing to fulfil the 
terms which the Pontiff, acting in his behalf, had obtained 
from the emperor, Henry II. Whilst the imperial troops be- 
sieged his capital, the affrighted king sought the mediation of 

* Cone. Rhemens. acta, col. 241, t. xxi., coll. Mansi. 
f Ibidem, col. 238. 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



343 



so powerful an intercessor, who willingly undertook the jour- 
ney to Germany, in order to procure peace, which the faith- 
lessness of Andrew afterwards prevented. 

Gregory IV., on presenting himself to Louis, against whom 
Lothaire, his son and colleague in the empire, had revolted, 
protested that he came only to restore peace, which our Di- 
vine Redeemer wished to be maintained by all his disciples. 
The refusal of the emperor to come to an accommodation, 
led to the defection of his troops, which forced him to abandon 
the contest. 

It was at the instance of Paschal II., that St. Anselm used 
his best efforts to bring about an amicable settlement between 
Henry I. of England, and his brother Robert, who, by right of 
seniority, claimed the crown. When every overture for peace 
was rejected, the prelate, on the eve of battle, exhorted the 
nobles to be true to their allegiance which they had pledged 
to Henry, and he threatened Robert with excommunication if 
he continued to disturb the public peace. These measures 
proved effectual, the prince choosing rather to forego his 
claim than fall under the censures of the Church, by engaging 
in a bloody contest. 

On occasion of war between the republics of Genoa and 
Pisa, Innocent II. repaired to this latter city, and summoned 
thither the representatives of the Genoese interests, who, to- 
gether with the Pisans, swore to abide by his commands, and 
accordingly made peace. Clement III. sent a cardinal legate 
to Henry II. of England and Louis VI. of France, exhorting 
them to peace, in order to unite in the effort to liberate the 
Holy Land. Entreat}^, persuasion, and threats were succes- 
sively employed, until at length the princes consented to abide 
by the judgment of the legate, and of four archbishops, two 
on the part of each king. In proceeding to the adjudication 
of this controversy, the judges threatened to excommunicate 
any one who should strive to prevent the conclusion of peace. 

Innocent III. fell sick unto death on a journey which he un- 
dertook with a view to induce the Pisans, Genoese, and Lom- 
bards to make peace, and unite in the crusade. When James, 
King of Aragon, had made war on Simon, count of Montfort, 
Honorius III. despatched ambassadors to enjoin peace, offering 
to take cognizance of the causes of dispute, if the parties 
would submit them to the apostolic judgment, and threaten- 



344 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



ing them with anathema in case they persevered in the war. 
Honorius III. sent a legate to Louis VIII. of France, to induce 
him to make a truce with Henry, the king of England, which, 
however, he failed to accomplish. He strictly forbad Henry 
to attack Louis whilst engaged in the Albigensian war. 

John XXI. exerted all his influence with Philip, king of 
France, and Alphonsus, king of Castille, to produce a recon- 
ciliation between them, that both princes might unite in suc- 
coring the Eastern Christians. To the former he wrote in 
these terms : " We admonish, ask, and earnestly exhort and 
beseech your royal highness, by the sprinkling of the blood 
of Jesus Christ, attentively to reflect that the execution of the 
affairs connected with the divine glory, in which you are to 
be the chief actor, is impeded by this misunderstanding, and 
to turn to meekness what seems disposed to anger, and to 
prepare and change your royal mind to the good of peace, and 
unity of concord." The Pontiff* proffered his kind offices to 
settle the matters in dispute : " If any dispute still remain 
between you and the aforesaid king, the solicitude of the 
Apostolic See will not be wanting ; she offers herself, without 
sparing labor, to extinguish, to the utmost of her power, all 
matter of disagreement between you and the aforesaid king, 
and to procure and maintain unity with great care."* He 
authorized his legate to restrain by ecclesiastical censures 
both kings, or whichever should attack the other. 

Nicholas III. urged Michael Palaeologus, the Greek emperor, 
Charles, king of Sicily, and the Emperor Philip, to submit 
their disputes to his decision, rather than engage in war.j" 
By his persuasion, Rodulph, king of the Romans, made peace 
with Charles, king of Sicily, and yielded to him Provence, 
saving the rights of Margaret, queen of the French. 

Edward of England, and Philip the Fair of France, being 
engaged in war, Boniface VIII. sent ambassadors, most ear- 
nestly exhorting them to peace. He authorized the legates to 
threaten the infliction of censures, should they persist ; de- 
claring it to be unworthy of Christian princes to lead their 
subjects to mutual slaughter. What to us may appear strange, 
is, that the Pontiff took upon himself to order a truce to be 
observed for a year between the contending princes, and pro- 
longed it for two years, under penalty of excommunication. J 

* Apud Rayn., an. 1276. f Ibidem, an. 1278. % Ibidem, an. 1296. 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



345 



The attempt to interfere with the military operations of 
sovereigns, is an extraordinary instance of ecclesiastical 
power ; but it was then thought that the penalty of exclusion 
from the Church might be inflicted by her ruler on princes ac- 
knowledging her authority, who recklessly sacrificed human 
life in a contest, which, during the suspension of hostilities, 
might be amicably adjusted. With similar threats of censure, 
Boniface commanded Adolphus, king of the Homans, to desist 
from hostilities against Philip, and urged the three princes to 
submit their disputes to the pontifical decision. 

Oftentimes both parties simultaneously invoked the pontifi- 
cal judgment, making the Pope umpire for the termination of 
their disputes. Thus Honorius III. was called on to judge 
between Frederick II. and various cities of Lombardy, and 
succeeded in effecting a reconciliation. When the war had 
broken out anew, through the perfidy of the emperor, Gregory 
IX., who then occupied the papal chair, acted in the capacity 
of pacific judge, providing with paternal solicitude for the im- 
perial interests, and for the security of the cities. 

The Pontiff was sometimes implored by the legitimate 
claimant of a throne to use his spiritual authority against an 
unlawful aspirant. At the solicitation of Louis II., the legal 
heir of the kingdom of his deceased brother, Adrian II. threat- 
ened the nobles with censure, should they favor the usurpation 
of Charles, the uncle of the deceased sovereign. John VIII., 
in like manner, came to the aid of Charles the Bald, when his 
dominions were invaded by his brother Louis, and commanded 
the bishops, under pain of anathema, to use their influence to 
prevent further depredations. This interference was in ac- 
cordance with the general feeling of the age, which regarded 
the act of the Pontiff as a declaration of right, by which even 
a weak prince was supported in his struggle against superior 
force, and a powerful monarch received a moral strength in 
public opinion which could not be derived from mere success 
on the field of battle. 

When nations were involved in the horrors of civil war, or 
were threatened with them, the religious influence of the Pon- 
tiff was often implored by sovereigns and subjects to restore 
order, and secure the rights of all. 

Stephen IV., towards the middle of the tenth century, used 
his influence and authority, not without success, to induce the 



846 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



French nobles to return to the obedience of Louis VI., against 
whom they had revolted. In this he followed the maxims of 
the apostles, who taught men to obey their rulers, even if per- 
sonally unworthy ; and his remonstrances were listened to the 
more patiently and respectfully, because he addressed them 
as the common father of all, not as a royal partisan, and em- 
ployed his influence in their behalf to obtain for them justice 
and pardon from the sovereign. 

Henry II., on the rebellion of his son, sought the interposi- 
tion of Alexander III., avowing himself a vassal of the Holy 
See : " Since God has raised you to the eminence of the pas- 
toral office, that you might give the knowledge of salvation 
to His people, although I be absent in body, yet present in 
spirit, I prostrate myself at your knees, demanding salutary 
counsel. The kingdom of England is of your jurisdiction, 
and to you alone I am responsible, and am bound as to what 
regards the obligation of feudatory right. Let England see 
the power of the Roman Pontiff; and since he does not em- 
ploy material arms, let him defend the patrimony of blessed 
Peter with the spiritual sword."* The Pope accordingly is- 
sued an excommunication against whosoever should disturb 
the king's peace. 

It is plain that the pontifical interference, when thus in- 
voked by princes, or their subjects, was calculated to remedy 
internal grievances in a manner most consistent with the 
general interests. The monarch, however powerful, could 
not hope to crush by force his subjects, when sustained by 
the moral influence of the Pontiff; and a feeble prince was 
protected by the shield of religion against the violence of a 
rampant nobility or a restless people. Between sovereigns 
accustomed to decide their disputes on the battle-field, his in- 
terposition, as the common father of princes, was calculated 
to prevent a recourse to arms. His judgment being regarded 
as the expression of right, gave a moral support to the just 
cause : 

" To give us warrant from the hand of Heaven, 
And on our actions set the name of right 
With holy breath." f 

Leibnitz regarded this mediatorial office of the Pope as one 



* Baron., an. 1173, p. 60. 



f King John. 



PEACE TRIBUNAL, 347 

among the most beautiful evidences of Christian influence on 
society, and expressed the desire, which however he did not 
hope to see realized, that a peace tribunal were established 
anew at Rome, with the Pontiff as its president, that the 
controversies of princes and the internal dissensions of na- 
tions might, under the mild influence of religion, be decided 
without bloodshed. " Since we are allowed to indulge fancy, 
why," says he, " should we not cherish an idea that would re- 
new among us the golden age ? " # 

It may be said that the Pontiffs did not always appear in 
the character of pacificators, since they sometimes urged 
princes to make war on those who had fallen under the cen- 
sures of the Church, and to seize their territories. In order 
to judge rightly of these acts, it should be remembered, that 
the Christian nations of Europe, from a community of reli- 
gious belief, became almost insensibly a great confederacy, 
bound together by stronger ties than any conventional com- 
pact. " The nations belonging to the Roman communion 
appeared to be one great republic."f The integrity of Chris- 
tian faith was its fundamental law, the violation of which 
was punished with expulsion from the confederacy. The Pope 
was charged to watch over its observance, and in case of the 
apostacy of any inferior lord, to declare the forfeiture which 
he had incurred, and to proclaim that his territory might be 
seized by any Catholic potentate. The action of the Pontiff, 
in such case, was not an exercise of his primatial authority, 
farther than his sentence determined the guilt of heresy : it 
proceeded from a power attached to his office by general 
consent for the interests of the Christian commonwealth. In 
reference to the Manichean heresy, which subverted public 
morals as well as faith, the penalty was specially enacted. 

The fourth Council of Lateran, held in the year 1215, under 
Innocent III., decreed, that if a secular lord, after request 
made of him, and admonition given him by the Church, should 
neglect to clear his territory of this heretical filth, he should 
be excommunicated by the bishops of the province ; and in 
case he continned contumacious under excommunication 
during an entire year, the Pope should be informed of it, that 

* Lettre II., a M. Grimaret op. t. v., p. 65. 

t Voltaire, Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, t. ii., ch. xlviii. 



348 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



he might declare the vassals thenceforward free from their 
allegiance, and leave the territory open to be occupied by 
Catholics, who might drive away the heretics, and hold it by 
an unquestionable title, without prejudice to the rights of the 
liege lord. The same was to be observed in regard to such 
as had no principal lords,* that is, lords paramount. It is 
clear that the body of the enactment regards inferior and de- 
pendent lords, whose tenure of their fiefs was thus limited, 
with the general consent of the secular powers present in the 
Council, which contained the representatives of the emperor 
of Constantinople, and of the kings of France, England, 
Hungary, Jerusalem, Aragon, and of many other sovereigns. 
The ravages of the Manichees, which are described by the 
fathers, appeared to require the concerted efforts of all the 
civil powers to suppress them, so that neglect to do so was 
deemed treason against the Christian confederacy. On this 
account it was punished with the forfeiture of feudal rights ; 
and accordingly, in the Council itself, Innocent deprived the 
count of Toulouse of his principality, and transferred it to 
Simon de Montfort, the leader of the crusade against the Al- 
bigensians. Honorius III. justified himself by this enact- 
ment with Henry, king of England, for having called on 
Louis, king of France, to occupy the territory of the count 
of Toulouse.f The enactment does not regard sovereigns, 
the clause which is attached to it being only designed to 
include alodial proprietors, who were bound to no military 
service, or other feudal duty. It may be thought that the 
principle is equally applicable to sovereigns : but where penal 
laws are in question, it is not allowable to argue from parity 
of reason, and sovereigns are never understood to be em- 
braced by general enactments, unless they be specially men- 
tioned. 

But it is undeniable that the Pontiffs sometimes, although 
rarely, invited princes to aid in executing their sentences 
against sovereigns, and encouraged them to invade their ter- 
ritories in a hostile manner. Postponing to another opportu- 
nity to explain the grounds on which this was done, I wish, at 
present, merely to meet the objection as regards their pacific 

* Can. iii., apud Labbe, cone, t. xi., par. i., p. 147. 
f Vide Fleury, Hist. Eccl., 1. lxxix., § xxviii. 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



349 



character. Whenever war is necessary to vindicate the op- 
pressed, and put a stop to outrage, its justice must be the apo- 
logy of him who lends it his sanction. It is for the interests of 
peace, and of humanity, that a powerful monarch should in- 
terpose for the protection of the defenceless, and awe, by a 
formidable display of force, the tyrant who is deaf to paternal 
remonstrance. Of the papal authority as exercised by the 
Gregories and Innocents, a recent writer says : " It bestowed 
order, civilization, and, as far as was possible in such fierce 
and warlike times, peace."* 

In connexion with the office of the Pontiffs as pacificators, 
we may mention the restraints which they imposed by law on 
military operations. It would have been vain to enjoin on the 
nobles of those ages to abstain altogether from the use of arms, 
since mutual injuries provoked resistance and retaliation, and 
tribunals of justice were not at hand. Each baron exercised 
the rights of sovereignty, as far as his own interests were at 
stake, and undertook the redress of his wrongs by the sword. 
The utmost which could be successfully attempted, was to re- 
strain them from violence at certain times, and especially on 
days consecrated to religious duties : on this account Urban 
II., in the Council of Clermont, confirmed by his authority the 
decrees of some bishops, who had enjoined a suspension of 
hostilities from Wednesday evening of each week until Mon- 
day morning, and during the whole of Advent and Lent. The 
wisdom of this ordinance is acknowledged by Mills, who ob- 
serves : " The clergy did much towards accustoming mankind 
to prefer the authority of law to the power of the sword. At 
their instigation private wars ceased for certain periods, and on 
particular days, and the observance of the Truce of God was 
guarded by the terrors of excommunication and anathema, 
Christianity could not immediately and directly change the face 
of the world ; but she mitigated the horrors of the times by 
infusing herself into warlike institutions."! 

It may surprise the reader to learn that an improvement in 
the laws of war, which John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and 
Thomas Jefferson, as American commissioners, proposed to the 
Prussian minister, in the year 1784, was anticipated, more than 

* London Quarterly, for February, 1836. 
f History of Crusades, ch. i., p. 22. 

22 



350 



PEACE TRIBUNAL. 



six hundred years, by Alexander III. in the Council of Lateran. 
Using the civil influence with which he found himself invest- 
ed, he decreed that " priests, monks, strangers, merchants, pea- 
sants, going or returning, or employed in labors of husbandry, 
and the animals with which they plough, and which carry the 
seeds to the field, should be secured from all molestation."* 
The proposition of the commissioners was "to improve the 
laws of war, by a mutual stipulation not to molest non-comba- 
tants, as cultivators of the earth, fishermen, merchants, and 
traders in unarmed ships, and artists and mechanics, inhabit- 
ing and working in open towns."f 

* Cap. Innovamus II., de Treuga et Pace, 
f Kent's Comm., vol. i., p. 91. Note. 



CHAPTER IV. 



DEPOSING POWER. 

§ 1. Origin of the Power. 

Whoever is at all acquainted with the history of the middle 
ages, cannot be ignorant of the political influence which the 
prelates of the Church exercised, conjointly with the secular 
nobility. Their concurrence was sought in every change of 
rulers, whether the sceptre passed by election to the heir of a 
deceased monarch, or by some revolution into the hands of a 
new dynasty. On the resignation of Wamba, the Spanish 
bishops assembled, at the instance of his successor, Ervigius, 
who sought at their hands the ratification of his title : and on 
the deposition of Louis by his son Lothaire, a French Council 
lent its sanction to the measure. In 859, in the Council of Sa- 
vonieres, Charles the Bald avowed his willingness to submit 
to the judgment of the bishops, and complained that he had 
been deposed without their sanction. They, in reality, were 
the chief nobles, and they constituted, in some measure, the 
public council and national legislature. The Pope especially, 
as we have already seen, possessed immense influence in civil 
affairs, from his relation to the empire, which he resuscitated 
in the person of Charlemagne. Even previously, his judgment 
had sealed the deposition of Childeric, and the transfer of the 
sceptre from the Merovingian to the Carlovingian race. Peo- 
ple and princes alike appealed to him in their controversies, 
and sought redress at his hands. The Saxons complained to 
Alexander IL, of Henry IV., king of Germany, whose oppres- 
sion and licentiousness were intolerable. The prince was ac- 
cordingly summoned to answer at the tribunal of the Pontiff, 
whose death, however, interrupted the proceedings. Two 
centuries before, Nicholas I. threatened to interdict King Lo- 
thaire from entering the Church, unless he dismissed Waldra- 
da : and the menace was understood by the Bishop of Metz to 
involve the throne itself in danger. 



352 



DEPOSING POWER. 



Although, from these facts, it is plain that St. Gregory VIL 
was not the first who claimed or exercised authority over 
princes, he appears to be the first who attempted to depose 
them. Pope Symmachus, in the commencement of the sixth 
century, excommunicated the heretical emperor, Anastasius, 
but proceeded no further. In the year 1074, Gregory wrote to 
the French bishops, complaining of the crimes of Philip I., 
whom he designated not a king, but a tyrant, and requiring of 
them to admonish him, and interdict the kingdom, adding a 
solemn threat, that if these measures failed, he would leave no 
means untried to free the nation from its unworthy ruler, as 
he could no longer suffer so illustrious a kingdom and its vast 
population to be ruined by the misconduct of one man. This 
presents to us a principle very popular in our days, that roy- 
alty is but a trust for the people, and that when the public in- 
terests are trampled under foot by the prince, he is a tyrant, 
unfit to hold the reins of government, and no longer entitled 
to the obedience of the people. To propagate this doctrine, 
leaving to every one to determine for himself when it is that 
the ruler has forfeited his rights, would be to preach revolu- 
tion and anarchy, to which the saintly Pontiff was utterly op- 
posed. His assumption, however, of the right of judgment be- 
tween subjects and their sovereign, has been represented as a 
daring usurpation. If we consider that the kingdom of France, 
as well as the empire of which it had formed a part, was in 
close relation with the Holy See, which for several ages had 
been acknowledged by princes and nations as a general tribu- 
nal for the settlement of civil dissensions, and national con- 
tests, it may not seem to be an unwarrantable interference. 

The threat was not, in this instance, executed : but excom- 
munication was denounced against Philip in the Roman Coun- 
cil of the year 1075, in case he would not yield to the admoni- 
tions of the apostolic legate despatched for his correction. The 
zeal of the Pontiff was soon enkindled against a more powerful 
prince, Henry IV., king of Germany, and emperor elect. In 
the lifetime of his father, Henry III., he had been chosen to 
succeed to the imperial throne, with the assent of the 
German nobles, on the usual condition that he should govern 
justly.* The violation of this pledge had, as we have seen 
above, provoked the complaints of the Saxons, who subse- 



* " Si rector justus fbtnros esse!" Herman. Contract., ad. an. 1057. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



353 



quently revolted ; and having, in an assembly at Gersteng, de- 
clared him unworthy to reign, on the accession of Gregory 
they most urgently besought him to come to their relief,* 
whilst Henry implored his authority against the rebels ; both 
parties acknowledging him as their father and judge. " When 
the Saxons revolted," Saint-Priest observes, " the Emperor 
Henry IV., at the foot of the throne of Gregory VII., accused 
them of sedition and sacrilege. Thus the king of Germany 
made the Pope judge of his German subjects."-)- Gregory, ac- 
cordingly, expostulated with the insurgents, calling on them to 
desist from violence, and despatched legates to them and to 
the king, with a view to bring their disputes to a peaceful ter- 
mination. In the mean time, Henry threatened with death all 
who had appealed to the tribunal of the Pontiff. It was then 
that the measure of his iniquities seemed to overflow, so that 
Gregory took upon him to forbid him to govern the kingdom of 
the Germans and of Italy, and absolved all Christians from the 
oath by which they had bound themselves to obey him asking. 

This unprecedented act naturally leads us to inquire by what 
authority it was attempted. In a letter to the German bishops, 
nobles, and people, Gregory states that " Henry was guilty of 
crimes so enormous as to deserve not only to be excommuni- 
cated, but, according to all divine and human laws, to be de- 
prived of the royal dignity." The various historical documents 
specify those crimes, namely, utter disregard of the public in- 
terests, the cruel oppression of his subjects, the dishonor of the 
wives and daughters of the princes, and the butchery of many 
innocent persons. In the national Council held by the German 
princes, in 1076, they complained that Henry had wantonly 
shed the blood of his subjects, and laid an intolerable yoke on 
the necks of a free people. 

He had, likewise, committed great crimes against religion, 
by the sale of bishoprics, which he bestowed on unworthy men, 
and last of all, by the sacrilegious attempt to depose the sove- 
reign Pontiff. Both classes of crimes, those against society 
and religion, concurred to provoke his condemnation, because, 
as king, he had bound himself to protect the Church, and 
maintain her rights inviolate : but the last act, in that state of 

* " Quibus ut, vel per se, vel per nuntium, genti pene perditae consolator 
esset, suppliciter oraverimt." Bruno, de bello Saxonico, apud script, rerum 
Germ., t. i., p. 133. 

f Histoire de la Royaute, par Saint-Priest, 1. x., vol. ii., p. 549. 



354 



DEPOSING POWER. 



society, was justly deemed treason against the head of the 
Christian commonwealth. 

It was the firm persuasion of the German princes that Hen- 
ry, by his violation of the compact which, at his coronation, 
he had sworn to observe, had forfeited his title to the throne. 
" Freemen," says a writer almost contemporary, " put over 
themselves Henry as king, on condition that he should judge 
his constituents with justice, and govern them with royal care : 
which compact he has constantly broken and disregarded. 
Therefore, even without the judgment of the Apostolic See, the 
princes could justly refuse to acknowledge him any longer as 
king, since he has not fulfilled the pledge which he gave at his 
election ; the violation of which brings with it the forfeiture of 
kingly power."* They sought, nevertheless, the sanction of 
the Pope, whose influence on the public conscience was at 
that period unbounded. 

The sentence of Gregory was professedly grounded on the 
power of binding and loosing which Peter received from Christ : 
but it pre-supposed the radical nullification of the oath of alle- 
giance by the failure of Henry in the fulfilment of the correla- 
tive obligations ; so that it was in reality an authoritative 
declaration that the oath had ceased to bind. In no circum- 
stance did he assert, or insinuate, that he could loose the bond 
at will ; but he uniformly relied on the fact that the king had 
violated his own oath, and thus released the people from their 
duty to him. 

" Before this sacred throne he swore 

Justly to wield the power he bore ; 

And such the tie that binds in one 

The nation's heart and monarch's throne : 

The day that breaks his oath, annuls our own."f 

Lest the relations of the people to their rulers should be ca- 

* " Liberi homines Henricum eo pacto sibi praeposuerunt in regem, ut electo- 
res suos juste judicare, et regali providentia gubernare satageret, quod pactum 
ille postea prsevaricari et contemnere non cessavit, &c. Ergo et absque sedis 
apostolicae judicio, principes eum pro rege merito refutare possent, cum pac- 
tum adimplere contempserit, quod iis pro electione sua promiserat, quo non 
adimpleto nec rex esse poterat." Vita Gregorii VII., in Muratori Script, re- 
rum Italic, t. iii., p. 342. 

f A cet autel auguste 

il jura d' etre juste : 

De son peuple et de lui tel etait le lien ; 

II nous rend nos sermens, lorsqu' il trahit le sien. 

Voltaire, Brutus, Acte Scene 2. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



355 



priciously dissolved, the judgment of the Pope was awaited. 
The Saxons had implored it most earnestly, and Gregory, after 
much hesitation, and many efforts for the correction of Henry, 
issued at length the awful sentence. 

Without pretending that the cases are in all respects paral- 
lel, I beg to refer to the Declaration of Independence, in 
which, after the enumeration of grievances endured by the 
American colonies from the king of Great Britain, this re- 
markable sentence occurs : " We, therefore, the representa- 
tives of the United States of America, in general congress 
assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for 
the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by author- 
ity of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and 
declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to 
be, free and independent States : that they are absolved from 
all allegiance to the British crown ; and that all political 
connexion between them and the State of Great Britain is, 
and ought to be, totally dissolved." Although Congress did 
not assume the power of the keys, or claim any control over 
conscience, it certainly set aside, as far as in it lay, the oath 
of allegiance, on the ground that the correlative duty of pro- 
tection had not been fulfilled by the British crown. So far, 
this is precisely a case in point to that for which odium has 
been heaped on the memory of the holy Pontiff. His act, if 
in the main just, because declaratory of right, does not cease 
to be such from the circumstance that he brings to its per- 
formance all the spiritual authority of his office, invoking the 
prince of the apostles to ratify what he undertakes, in virtue 
of that power of binding and loosing which he received from 
Christ. He did not rely on this alone : he did not interfere 
unsolicited : but his authority having been implored by both 
parties alternately, he issued a sentence, giving it all the force 
which his social and ecclesiastical position enabled him to 
impart to it : and yet suspending its final effect for a year, in 
order to give the tyrant an opportunity of escaping it, by a 
change of conduct. 

In an assembly of the German princes held at Triers, most 
of them manifested an anxiety to avail themselves of the op- 
portunity which was thus presented of deposing Henry ; but, 
in the end, they sent an embassy to him, proposing to submit 
their grievances anew to the judgment of the Pope, in an 



356 



DEPOSING POWER. 



assembly of all the nobles, to be held at Augsburg : to which 
the affrighted prince assented. " This was," as Voltaire ob- 
serves, " a recognition of the Pontiff as the natural judge of 
the emperor and empire. It was the triumph of Gregory VII. 
and of the papacy. Henry IV., reduced to these extremities, 
increased still more his triumph."* 

As, according to a law of the empire, the king, or emperor, 
who, during an entire year remained under excommunication* 
forfeited all right to the throne, Henry was solicitous to obtain 
absolution before the close of the year ; and for that purpose, 
in the depth of winter, he crossed the Alps to meet the Pon- 
tiff, who had stopped at Canosa on his journey to Augsburg. 
In the garb of a penitent, the monarch presented himself at 
the gate of the fortress, but obtained admittance only after 
three days, Gregory being distrustful of the sincerity of his 
professions. This apparent sternness of the Pontiff, who was 
slow to loose the prince from his ecclesiastical bonds, was 
fully justified by the prompt relapse of the latter into his 
usual excesses. Absolution was granted to him only on con- 
dition, that in case the issue of the trial in the assembly of 
German nobles were unfavorable to him, he should renounce 
all pretensions to the crown. When taking the communion, 
Gregory holding in his hand the body of our Lord, appealed 
to him as witness of his innocence, and then challenged Henry 
to do likewise : " Do, my son, what you have seen me do. 
The German princes daily stun my ears with charges against 
you, imputing to you many enormous crimes, for which they 
think you deserve not only to be deprived of the government, 
but to be removed from the communion of the Church, and 
from all civil society to the end of life : they earnestly demand 
that a day and place be appointed for the examination of the 
charges which they bring against you." Consciousness of 
guilt withheld the monarch from making the appeal. 

After the relapse of Henry, and the election of Rudolph by 
the German princes, contrary to the wishes of Gregory, who 
still cherished the hope of his amendment, he made several 
ineffectual efforts to terminate the contest, and resisted the 
importunate solicitations of the ambassadors of Rudolph, and 
of others, who urged him to strike the prevaricating prince 
with the apostolic sword. At length, in the year 1080, he 

* Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, ch. xlii., Henri IV. et Gregoire VII. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



357 



drew it from the scabbard, in a Roman Council, " subjected 
him to excommunication, binding him with the chains of 
anathema, forbidding him anew on the part of Almighty God 
and of the apostles Peter and Paul, to take on himself the 
kingdom of the Germans and of Italy." By his solemn sen- 
tence, the Pontiff took from Henry all power and dignity, for- 
bidding any Christian to obey him, and absolving from their 
oath all who had sworn allegiance to him. On the same oc- 
casion, he recognised as king, Rudolph, whom the Germans 
had chosen to occupy the throne, and, with the ardor of pro- 
phetic zeal, he besought the apostles to show by the event 
that they could take away and grant, according to the re- 
spective deserts of each one, empires, kingdoms, principalities, 
and all varieties of earthly dominion. It may be difficult to 
persuade the reader that a document, couched in such lan- 
guage, implies no claim to temporal power ; but, taking it in 
connexion with the facts, it appears to me to be no more than 
a solemn sanction of the deposition of Henry, which the Ger- 
man princes had already pronounced, and a recognition of 
Rudolph as rightfully elected in his stead. The apostles were 
invoked, that by their powerful influence at the eternal throne, 
they might obtain such a manifest interposition of Providence, 
as would show to the world that Christ had confirmed the 
just sentence of His earthly vicegerent. The victory of the 
Saxons over Henry might be taken as the accomplishment of 
this prayer, had not Rudolph himself perished in the battle ; 
but from the time of that defeat, Henry remained feeble, al- 
though he survived twenty-six years, and claimed, almost till 
his death, the imperial title. Gregory had no mean idea of 
his power, which he labored not to trace to any earthly source, 
since, when questioned by Herimann, Bishop of Metz, by what 
authority he did these things, he instantly referred to the com- 
mission to bind and loose, which Christ gave to Peter in lan- 
guage the most comprehensive : but as he claimed and exer- 
cised it in circumstances in which a forfeiture of the throne 
had been incurred by the flagrant abuse of power, his lan- 
guage must be interpreted by his object, which plainly was, 
to sanction and confirm the act of the German princes pro- 
viding for the vacancy. He conceived, indeed, that earthly 
rulers, being of mere human origin, were subordinate to the 
priests of God in the things of salvation, and that they should 



358 



DEPOSING POWER. 



be guided and controlled by the divine principles of religion 
in the government of their subjects : " Who does not well 
know," he wrote to Herimann, " that kings and dukes were 
originally men destitute of the knowledge of the true God, 
who, by pride, rapine, treachery, murder, — in a word, by al- 
most every crime, through the instigation of the devil, the 
prince of this world, with blind ambition and intolerable pre- 
sumption, undertook to lord it over their equals ? Who can 
doubt that the priests of Christ are the fathers and teachers 
of kings and princes, and of all the faithful 1 " # In his appli- 
cation of these remarks to the case of Henry, he may have 
been unconsciously influenced by his social position, which 
gave to his sentence a civil influence. I see, however, nothing 
in his sentiments! or acts which may not be reduced to an 
authoritative declaration of a forfeiture incurred by the abuse 
of the public trust, and the consequent cessation of obligations 
and duties which were limited to its faithful exercise. The 
right of declaring it when his judgment was implored by na- 
tions and princes, who, by general consent, recognised him as 
their judge, appears to me unquestionable. As head of the 
Church, he had a right to define the abstract principle, that 
an oath ceased to bind when the condition on which it was 
made was flagrantly violated : as head of the Christian con- 
federacy, and as one standing in the most special relations to 
the German empire, he was authorized to declare, on evidence 
furnished him by the oppressed nation, that the forfeiture of 
power had been actually incurred. 

§ 2. Subsequent Instances. 

Notwithstanding the sufferings of St. Gregory in his strug- 
gle against the oppressor, his example was followed by his 
successors. In the year 1168, Alexander III. excommunicated 
Frederick Barbarossa, and released his subjects from their 
allegiance. The sacking of Milan, one of the most horrible 
events recorded in history, provoked, and, even in the judg- 
ment of Voltaire, justified this exercise of pontifical authority. J 

* L. viii., ep. xxi., ad Herimanum ep. Met. 

f These are to be gathered from his letters. The Dictatus is proved to 
be a forgery. See Pagi, ad. an. 1077. 
% Essai sur l'Histoire Generale, 1. ii., ch. xliv. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



359 



The Italian cities, encouraged by the papal sentence, suc- 
ceeded in shaking off the imperial yoke, and, through grati- 
tude to the magnanimous Pontiff, built a city, which they 
called from his name, Alexandria. " Milan, which was re- 
built, Pavia, Brescia, and so many other cities, thanked the 
Pope for having restored to them the precious liberty for 
which they fought ; and the holy father, penetrated with a 
pure joy, cried out: 'God has been pleased to cause an old 
priest to triumph, without combating, over a powerful and 
terrific emperor.' " # Shall we hesitate to applaud the triumph 
of liberty and natural right over a cruel despot ? The sen- 
tence of the Pontiff was plainly a declaration of the natural 
rights of the Italian cities, for whose relief it was specially 
issued. Frederick himself bent his proud neck to the Vicar 
of Christ,f and, to repair his misdeeds, with heroic courage 
led the army of the cross to the plains of Palestine. 

The most solemn sentence of deposition was pronounced in 
the year 1245, in the Council of Lyons, by Innocent IV. against 
Frederick II. There were present in that venerable assem- 
bly the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, and Aquileja, 
with archbishops and bishops, to the number of one hundred and 
forty, and the emperor of Constantinople, with several repre- 
sentatives of the civil powers. It is unnecessary to enume- 
rate the measures previously adopted against Frederick, and 
the long-continued career of crime by which he provoked the 
censures of the Church. His advocate, Thaddeus, in vain 
attempted to avert the sentence. Innocent, after preliminary 
proceedings, in the third session thus pronounced judgment : 
" The aforesaid prince having rendered himself unworthy of 
the empire and the kingdom, and of all honor and dignity, 
and being cast off by God on account of his iniquities, that 
he should not reign or command ; and being bound fast by his 
own sins, and cast away, we show and denounce him as de- 
prived by the Lord of all honor and dignity ; and, neverthe- 
less, by our sentence we deprive him, and absolve for ever 
from their oath all who are bound to him by the oath of al- 
legiance." 

* Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, 1. ii., ch. xliv. 

f The fable of Alexander putting his foot on the neck of the penitent em- 
peror is exploded. It is equally matter of fiction, that Celestine III., at the 
age of eighty-four, whilst crowning Henry VI., son of Frederick, kicked the 
crown off his head : " Ce fait n' est pas vraisemblable." Voltaire, ibid, 



360 



DEPOSING POWER. 



The solemnity of this sentence requires our particular con- 
sideration. I am not of those who rely on the circumstance 
that it is said to have been passed in the presence of the 
Council, without any intimation that the fathers approved of 
it ; for they certainly concurred in the awful ceremonial of 
the excommunication, and not having protested against the 
deposition, they must be considered as assenting to it, espe- 
cially as the Pontiff declares that it was decreed after dili- 
gent deliberation with them. The obvious reason why it is 
ascribed to Innocent, rather than to the Council, is because it 
was believed to be his prerogative to judge the emperor whom 
he had crowned. On this circumstance, great stress is laid 
by Nicholas I., who speaks of the imperial dominions as pass- 
ing by hereditary right, confirmed by the authority of the 
Holy See, and by the act of the Pontiff who placed the crown 
on his head.* I am not disposed to admit that the act of In- 
nocent was an exercise of usurped power, an unwarrantable 
encroachment of the ecclesiastical on the civil authority: 
neither do I contend that it proceeded from the divine com- 
mission given to Peter. In the state of society which then 
existed, which, as we have seen, was in the main a Christian 
confederacy, having the Gospel as its fundamental law, the 
head of the Church being placed in such intimate relations 
with the emperor, could declare that he had forfeited his 
rights to the throne, by violating the compact in virtue of 
which he reigned. " The union of European Christendom 
under the Pope was the arrangement which had lasted, under 
God's providence, ever since the barbarians had been chris- 
tianized ; it was the dispensation which was natural and 
familiar to men — the only one they could imagine — a dispen- 
sation, moreover, under which religion had achieved its con- 
quests. The notion of being independent of the See of St. 
Peter was one which was never found among the thoughts of 
a religious man, even as a possibility ; which never occurred 
even to an irreligious one, except as involving disobedience 
and rebellion."-)- In reference to this sentence, Michaud ob- 
serves : " We must acknowledge that the pretensions of the 
Popes in this respect were favored by the contemporary opin- 
ions. Complaints were sometimes made of being judged un- 
justly by the formidable tribunal of the Church, but the right 



* Ep. xxvi. 



f British Critic, No. LXV., p. 35. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



361 



of judging the Christian powers was not called in question, 
and the nations almost always received their decision without 
a murmur."* 

The provision made in the Constitution of the United States 
for the trial of the president on impeachment, bears some 
analogy to the mode of proceeding against the emperor, at 
that time when the Christian nations of Europe virtually 
formed a federal commonwealth. " The Church," as Chan- 
cellor Kent remarks, " had its Councils, or convocations of the 
clergy, which formed the nations professing Christianity into 
a connexion resembling a federal alliance, and those Councils 
sometimes settled the titles and claims of princes, and regu- 
lated the temporal affairs of the Christian powers."f We 
may justly consider a General Council as the senate of this 
confederacy, the Pope as the chief justice of the Christian 
states. According to the Constitution, the president is to be 
tried by the senate, under the presidency of the chief justice. 
There may appear to be a striking contrast between the two 
cases in this respect, that two-thirds of the senate must con- 
cur to the condemnation of the president, whilst the judicial 
power of the Pontiff is independent and unrestricted ; but, in 
fact, he never proceeded in a case of this importance unless 
with the advice and assent either of a General Council, as in 
the present instance, or of a numerous assembly of bishops, 
like the Roman Synods under Gregory VII. The chief justice 
is empowered to remove the president from office, when found 
guilty, but he cannot affect life or limb by his sentence. The 
Pontiff, in like manner, in deposing the delinquent emperor, 
left his person free and inviolate. 

§ 3. Never Formally Defined. 

Boniface VIII. is considered as having most formally assert- 
ed, if he did not define, the right to depose sovereigns. Philip 
the Fair, king of France, was guilty of debasing the public 
coin, to the great injury of his subjects, and of other acts of 
injustice, besides the violation of ecclesiastical immunities. 
The. Pope admonished him with the authority of a father, ap- 
plying to himself the words of the prophet Jeremias, which 

* Histoire des Croisades, 1. xiv., p. 163. 

f Commentaries on American Law, by James Kent, lect. 1, p. 9, 10. 



362 



DEPOSING POWER. 



Honorius III. had used on a similar occasion : " God has placed 
us over kings and kingdoms, to root up, pull down, waste, de- 
stroy, build up, and plant in His name and by His doctrine. 
Wherefore, imagine not that you have no superior, and that 
you are not subject to the head of the Church."* As the pro- 
phet certainly had no secular power, the Pope cannot be 
thought to have claimed it, merely because he used the words 
which God addressed to Jeremias, and which meant only re- 
proof, exhortation and correction, especially since he qualifies 
the meaning by the words " in His name and by His doctrine," 
He expressly disavowed, through the cardinals, all claims to 
temporal domination :f but he asserted his right to judge of 
the morality of the acts of the king, which ratione peccati fell 
under his cognizance. As these were flagrantly criminal, he 
interdicted the kingdom of France, in the hope of striking ter- 
ror into the delinquent monarch, who, however, resisted his 
authority, denying his right of interference. The famous Bull, 
Unam Sanctam, published by Boniface, affirms that the tempo- 
ral power is of its nature subordinate to the ecclesiastical, as 
earthly are to heavenly things, and defines the necessity which 
is incumbent on rulers as well as their subjects of admitting 
the authority of the chief bishop : " We declare to every hu- 
man creature,J we affirm, define and pronounce, that it is al- 
together necessary for salvation, to be subject to the Roman 
Pontiff." Beyond this the definition does not go, so that no 
more is taught as of faith than what all Catholics hold, name- 
ly, that subjection to the Pope in matters of salvation, is a ne- 
cessary duty of a true Christian. The terms in which it is 
affirmed are borrowed from St. Thomas of Aquin,§ and are 
not stronger than those employed by St. Jerom when address- 
ing Damasus. The allegorical reasoning contained in the 
Bull concerning the two swords — the spiritual sword wielded 
by the Pontiff, the temporal sword by the prince, but at the 
bidding of the Pontiff, — is taken from St. Bernard,|| who means 

* Ausculta, Fili. The Bull begins with these words, 
f Fleury, Hist, de l'Eglise, 1. xc., $ 16. 

| Omni humanae creaturae : in some manuscripts it reads : omnem huma- 
nam creaturam ; which would imply that every one should be subject to the 
Pontiff— kings as well as their subjects. This is strictly true of all members 
of the Church, in all that regards salvation. 

§ Opus contra Graecos. (J De consideratione, 1. iv. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



363 



no more than that princes should use their power justly, and 
protect the ministers of religion in the exercise of their sacred 
functions. The power of deposing sovereigns is not at all as- 
serted, much less is it defined, in this decree. 

The superiority of the pontifical or sacerdotal power to that 
of princes or emperors, which is affirmed in this and various 
other documents, is to be understood of moral excellence, not 
of temporal relation. Justice and right are superior to brute 
force — the divine law is above all human authority : and the 
priest, or Pontiff, from whose lips the law is sought, is, in this 
respect, above the highest earthly potentate. Arnold, in re- 
viewing the history of the strifes between the Popes and em- 
perors, perceived clearly that it was, originally at least, a 
struggle for principle ; and although he was not disposed to fa- 
vor the papal pretensions, he was forced by his convictions to 
acknowledge the justice of the cause which they advocated : 
" The principle in itself was this : whether the papal or the 
imperial, in other words, the sacerdotal or the imperial power 
was to be accounted the greater. Now, conceive the papal 
power to be the representative of what is moral and spiritual, 
and the imperial power to represent only what is external and 
physical ; conceive the first to express the ideas of responsi- 
bility to God and paternal care and guidance, while the other 
was the mere embodying of selfish might, like the old Greek 
tyrannies, and who can do other than wish success to the pa- 
pal cause ? Who can help being, with all his heart, a Guelf ? 
But in the early part of the struggle, this was, to a great ex- 
tent, the state of it : the Pope stood in the place of the Church, 
the emperor was a merely worldly despot, corrupt and arbi- 
trary."* 

The third canon of the fourth Council of Lateran, which we 
have already examined, has been often alleged as sanctioning 
the deposition of sovereigns. Even if this were true, it does 
not bear the character of a doctrinal definition. It is an 
enactment, which, by the consent of the secular powers repre- 
sented in the Council, might have embraced even sovereigns, 
but there is no proof that it actually embraces them. Yet it 
cannot be doubted that by a general law, practically recog- 

* Introductory Lectures on Modern History, by Thomas Arnold, lect. v., 
p. 228. American edition. 



364 



DEPOSING POWER. 



nised by all Christian nations at that time, forfeiture of royal 
power was incurred by apostacy from the faith, this being ad- 
mitted even by Henry IV., who contended that in no other 
contingency was he liable to deposition. It was, however, a 
principle of action, but not a defined dogma. Even Frederick 
II. acknowledged that if he were guilty of the crimes laid to 
his charge, especially of heresy, he would deserve deposition : 
and the advisers of St. Louis agreed that in case of his guilt 
and conviction, he should not be supported by the French mo- 
narch.* 

§ 4. Deposition of Elizabeth. 

Among the latest attempts to exercise the deposing power, 
were the excommunication and sentence of deposition fulmi- 
nated by St. Pius V., and renewed by Sixtus V., against Eliza- 
beth of England. The grounds of this sentence were her ille- 
gitimacy, the declaration of which stood unrepealed on the 
statute-book of England,f her profession of heresy, which by 
the ancient fundamental law of England, as in other Christian 
countries, induced the forfeiture of regal power,J her crimes 
against religion, and especially her persecution of her Catholic 
subjects. The special object, however, of the Bull of Pius was 
to rescue the queen of Scots from impending death ; a circum- 
stance which does honor to his humanity, whatever may be 
thought of the means employed to effect his generous purpose. 
" The Pontiff," says Dr. Lingard, who is no advocate of the 
measure, " considered himself bound, to seek the deliverance of 
the captive princess; he represented to the kings of France 
and Spain that honor, and interest, and religion, called on 
them to rescue Mary from imprisonment and death ; and the 
moment that he knew that Elizabeth had committed her cause 
to the commissioners at York and Westminster, he ordered the 
auditor Riario to commence proceedings against the English 
queen in the papal court."§ After the Bull had been pre- 

* See Fleury, diss, v., in Hist. Eccl. 

f See History of England, by Dr. Lingard, vol. vii., ch. iv. 

J Leges Eduardi regis, art. xvii., alias xv., apud Wilkins, Leges Anglo- 
Saxonicae, p. 200. Spelman, concilia, &c. Londini, 1639. Henry IV. of 
Germany, in his letter to Gregory VII., maintained that he could not be de- 
posed unless he fell from the faith. 

§ History of England, vol. viii., ch. i. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



365 



pared, the Pontiff delayed affixing to it his signature, until he 
received the intelligence that eight hundred individuals had pe- 
rished on the scaffold, in punishment of an insurrection which 
had failed. The news of this wholsesale butchery fixed his 
determination. To all these considerations was added, in the 
renewal of the sentence by Sixtus, the barbarous murder of the 
queen of Scots, under the color of legal process. Philip IL, of 
Spain, prepared to give effect to the papal decree, by a formi- 
dable fleet, the Armada, which, by a mysterious act of Provi- 
dence, became the sport of the winds, leaving the bold daugh- 
ter of Anne Boleyn to pursue securely her career. Yet it is 
remarkable that although Henry left three children, each of 
whom successively occupied the throne, sterility marked them 
all, and the sceptre passed from the grasp of the haughtiest 
woman of the Tudor race to the son of the murdered Mary 
Stuart. 

The Catholics of England were foremost in demonstrations 
of loyalty to Elizabeth, at the time of the threatened invasion, 
feeling themselves bound to recognise her as their queen, 
because she was so acknowledged by the nation at large. In 
the sentence of deposition, St. Pius followed the precedents of 
holy and eminent Pontiffs, and relied on grounds which in 
themselves were not trivial : but the temporal supremacy of 
Rome had passed away, and the strength of Catholic faith 
was to be manifested in the patient endurance of persecution, 
over which it was finally to triumph. 

§ 5. Disclaimers. 

The deposing power continued for a long time to be a sub- 
ject of bitter controversy, the English government requiring 
the abjuration of the opinion in terms that condemned it as 
impious and heretical ; and Rome being slow to sanction any 
formulary that implied censure on the acts of holy Pontiffs, 
or even to relinquish a power which she had once effectually 
wielded for the interests of humanity and religion. Louis 
XIV. induced the French clergy, in the assembly of 1682, to 
deny it formally, at a time when there was no disposition on 
the part of the Pontiff to exercise it. At length the excite- 
ment of controversy passed away : the oath abjuring the 
opinion, without any offensive censure, was generally taken 

23 



366 



DEPOSING POWER. 



by the Catholics of the British empire without blame from the 
Holy See : the opinion was disclaimed by many Catholic uni- 
versities, and Pius VI., through cardinal Antonelli, prefect of 
the Propaganda, answering the Irish bishops, made the fol- 
lowing important declaration : " The See of Rome never 
taught that faith is not to be kept with the heterodox : — that 
an oath to kings separated from the Catholic communion can 
be violated : — that it is lawful for the Bishop of Rome to in- 
vade their temporal rights and dominions. We, too, consider 
an attempt or design against the lives of kings and princes, 
even under the pretext of religion, as a horrid and detestable 
crime." 

When Napoleon despoiled Pius VII. of his temporal princi- 
pality, the Pontiff hurled against him the thunders of the 
Church, without putting forth his hand to remove the imperial 
crown from his head. The haughty emperor boasted that the 
arms had not fallen from the hands of his soldiers, in conse- 
quence of the excommunication, as if it was but a vain at- 
tempt to stop him in his victorious career : but lo ! soon after- 
wards, in the Russian campaign, the frozen troops let fall their 
arms, by what Dr. Arnold designates, " a direct and manifest 
interposition of God."* The conqueror, who during so long a 
time had sported with crowns as with toys, soon fell from his 
eminence, and became a prisoner and an exile. 

The deposing power was essentially grounded on the prin- 
ciple that the people are the immediate source of civil govern- 
ment, which is established for their benefit, with liability to 
forfeiture if abused.f Lest anarchy should arise, through the 
intrigues of demagogues, the delicate point of declaring when 
forfeiture was incurred was reserved, in Catholic nations, to 
the judgment of the Pontiff. Charles Butler, an English ju- 
rist, decidedly opposed to the power, justly observes, that 
"the deposing doctrines of Persons and Mariana bears a 
nearer affinity to the whiggish doctrine of resistance than is 
generally supposed. The whigs maintain that the people, 
where there is an extreme abuse of power, — of which abuse 
the people themselves are to be the judges, — may dethrone 
the offending monarch. The good fathers assigned the same 

* Lecture iii., p. 161. 

f See Bianchi, Delia indiretta dipendenza della potesta temporale, 1. i., § I. 



DEPOSING POWER. 



367 



power to the people, in the same extreme case, but contended 
that, if there were any doubts of the existence of the extrem- 
ity, the Pope should be the judge. Of the two systems, when 
all Christendom was Catholic, was not the last, speaking com- 
paratively, the least objectionable ? "* He further observes, 
that " it was not found to be in practice quite so mischievous 
as is generally described. It had even this advantage, that, 
on several occasions, during the boisterous governments of 
the feudal princes, it often proved an useful restraint, in the 
absence of every other, both on th? king and the great no- 
bility, and protected the lower ranks' of society from their 
violence and oppression."! It was, in fact, as a recent Italian 
writer observes, " a spiritual tribuneship, which effectually 
pleaded for the people when sovereigns went beyond the just 
limits of authority/'^ Our own Brownson, even before he 
had set his foot on the threshold of the Church, eloquently re- 
marked : " Wrong, wrong have they been who have com- 
plained that kings and emperors were subjected to the spirit- 
ual head of Christendom. It was well for man, that there 
was a power over the brutal tyrants called emperors, kings, 
and barons, who rode rough-shod over the humble peasant 
and artisan — well that there was a powder, even on earth, 
that could touch their cold and atheistical hearts, and make 
them tremble as the veriest slave." . . . " It is* to the existence 
and exercise of that power, that the people owe their exist- 
ence, and the doctrine of man's equality to man its progress."§ 

* Historical Memoirs of the English Catholics, v. iii., § 4. 

f Ibidem, lxxv., 7. I Audisio, Educazione del clero. Turino, 1844. 

§ Boston Quarterly Review, January, 1842, p. 13. 



CHAPTER V. 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



The sacred character of the prelates of the Church disposed 
the faithful to view them with special reverence, and as their 
office bound them most strictly to maintain justice, their 
counsel and judgment were sought in matters of high impor- 
tance to the well-being of society. The possessions attached 
to their sees gave them feudal rights, and, consequently, poli- 
tical rank, so that they united with the secular nobles in the 
public Council, in which their influence was in proportion to 
their superior intelligence. Before the close of the seventh 
century, the Spanish prelates were called on to confirm by 
their authority the title of the reigning monarch, by ratifying 
the abdication of his predecessor. In the middle of the fol- 
lowing age, the papal sanction was sought for the deposition 
of an indolent incumbent of the French throne. 

Pepin, mayor of the palace, governed the Franks in the 
name of Childeric III., who altogether neglected the duties of 
a sovereign, which he was naturally disqualified from per- 
forming. The nobles applied to Pope Zacharias to sanction 
the transfer of the crown and title to the actual governor. 
The Pontiff gave his approbation to the measure, and the 
Merovingian race was consequently set aside, to make room 
for the Carlovingian dynasty. This decision was, in reality, 
but an authoritative declaration of the right of a nation, 
through its leaders, to choose for ruler a man capable o F pro- 
tecting the public interests. That the inert heir of royalty — 
magni nominis umbra — may be set aside, to make room for an 
active and capable ruler, when the public safety is in jeopardy, 
no supporter of the received theories of civil polity will ques- 
tion. The nobles invoked the authority of the Pontiff* in order 
that all might know that justice and the common good were 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



369 



solely had in view, and that no occasion might be furnished 
for tumult or disorder. It was an easy means of revolution, 
without shedding human blood. The conscience of the peo- 
ple at large was interested, lest they should appear to resist 
the divine ordinance, and purchase to themselves damnation. 
The father and judge of Christians was consulted, who deemed 
the reasons of the change just and sufficient. Whatever in- 
fluence in civil matters was thus given him, was the conse- 
quence of a free act of those who sought his counsel, or im- 
plored his judgment. He decided with authority a case of 
conscience of the highest importance,* with evident advan- 
tage to the nation. A sanguinary struggle was prevented, 
and the impartial judgment of one removed from local in- 
fluences, which might bias the mind, was received with gene- 
ral acquiescence. " An answer," says Gibbon, " so agreeable 
to their wishes, was accepted by the Franks as the opinion of 
a casuist, the sentence of a judge, or the oracle of a prophet."f 
Zacharias decided not as a mere casuist, emitting an opinion, 
nor yet as a prophet inspired of God, but truly as a judge, 
determining with authority the extent of a moral obligation. 
Guizot remarks : " Never was a revolution accomplished with 
less effort and noise : Pepin possessed the power : the fact was 
changed into right : no resistance was made : no reclamation 
was deemed sufficiently important to be recorded, although 
doubtless some was made. All things appeared unaltered : a 
title alone was changed. It is, nevertheless, beyond all ques- 
tion, that a great event was then accomplished : no doubt this 
change was the symptom of the end of a certain social state, 
and of the commencement of a new state, a crisis, a true 
epoch in the history of French civilization."! The change 
effected was plainly this, that royal descent was deemed an 
insufficient title to the crown, where personal disqualifications 
existed, and that the general interests of the nation were 
deemed paramount to the claims of an individual. The rela- 
tions of the Pontiff to the new dynasty were rendered more 
intimate by his concurrence in its elevation to the throne, and 
his influence with the people in civil affairs was confirmed 

* See Hallam, Middle Ages, ch. i. 

f Decline and Fall, &c., ch. xlix., A. D. 754. 

| Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. ii., p. 226. 



370 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



and increased. Nations and princes thenceforward viewed 
him as the expounder of their duties, and arbiter of their dis- 
putes. 

The pontifical sanction was eagerly sought by kings to se- 
cure the succession to the throne, that strife and bloodshed 
might be avoided. The coronation of a young prince by the 
Pope, settled the title more effectually than a modern act of 
Parliament for the better regulating of the succession. His 
person was thenceforward considered sacred, since the judg- 
ment of the Pontiff and the mysterious ceremony had ratified 
his title to the throne. Ethelwolph, king of the Western Sax- 
ons, sent to the eternal city his son Alfred, that he might be 
crowned by the Pope, and be thus declared heir to the throne 
then occupied by his father. The son of Demetrius, king of 
Russia, went to Rome in the time of Gregory VII., swore fealty 
to blessed Peter, and alleging the consent of his father, ob- 
tained the recognition of his right to succeed him, through the 
gift of St. Peter.* Suger, Abbot of St. Denis, considering 
the delicate state of the health of Louis the Fat, suggested to 
him to avail himself of the presence of Innocent II., then at 
Rheims, to have the young prince crowned, and thus prevent 
any strife of aspirants to the throne. The king accordingly 
came to Rheims, with his queen and son, and the nobles of his 
court, and had his son Louis VII. crowned as his successor, in 
the presence of bishops from France, Germany, England, and 
Spain. Mendog, king of Lithuania, obtained from Innocent 
IV. that his son should be crowned king. 

In cases where the order of succession could not be ob- 
served without danger to the public interests, the sanction of 
the Pope was asked for the necessary departure from the 
usual course. At the close of the twelfth century, the king 
of Armenia sought authority of Innocent III. to give effect to 
the will of Raymond, prince of Antioch, who excluded his 
brother, the count of Tripoli, from the succession, that the 
principality might pass to his own son and grandson. There 
were three claimants to the throne of Castille in the year 1218, 
Ferrand, who w T as chosen king by the majority of the nobles, 
was disqualified by his birth, as the marriage of his parents 
was incestuous and invalid. To prevent civil war, Honorius 



* S. Gregor. VII., ep. lxxiv. 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



371 



III. legitimated his birth, and ratified the election. Gregory 
IX. was implored to confirm the title to the throne, which the 
king elect of Norway, whose birth was illegitimate, derived 
from the will of his father, to the prejudice of the rights of the 
legitimate heir. The Christian nations in those ages felt con- 
fident that the Pontiff would weigh well the respective claims 
of the aspirants to royalty, with a sacred regard to the na- 
tional interests. 

Kings and other potentates, in the middle ages, eagerly 
sought the sanction of the Pope for their treaties. Richard, 
king of England, on the conclusion of peace with Tancred, 
of Sicily, addressed Clement III. in these terms : " The actions 
of princes are crowned with greater success when they are 
strengthened and favored by the Apostolic See, and directed 
by consultation with the Hoi)' Roman Church." * The Vene- 
tians and French having formed a treaty for the affairs of the 
Eastern empire, the emperor Baldwin, and Dandolo, doge of 
V enice, applied to Innocent III. to sanction it by threatening 
the transgressors with anathema : which, however, for weighty 
reasons, he declined. | " Nothing was more common," as 
Leibnitz remarks, " than for kings in their treaties to submit 
to the censure and correction of the Pope, as in the treaty of 
Bretagny in 1360, and the treaty of Etaples in 1492. J 

Much odium has fallen on the memory of Adrian IV. for 
having, as is alleged, given Ireland to Henry II. It is, how- 
ever, a mistake to understand the document as a grant of 
dominion, for it is merely a sanction of the enterprise. The 
king had only sought counsel and favor, which the Pontifl 
gave, without employing any terms that imply the transfer of 
dominion. He asserts, indeed, that Ireland, and all other 
islands on which the light of Christian faith had shone, are 
under the authority of blessed Peter : " ad jus beati Petri per- 
tinere" which, it appears, had already been avowed by the 
monarch, in his application for the pontifical sanction. To 
understand the nature of this claim, we may be permitted to 
refer to a Bull of Urban II. , issued in the year 1092 : " Since 
all islands, by common law, belong to the first occupants, we 
hold it as certain that the emperor Constantine gave the 

* Apud Baron. AnnaL, an. 1190. 

f Apud Raynald, an. 1205. See also Flemy, Hist.,1. lxxvi., § 16. 
% Diss. 1, de act. publ. usu. Op., t. iv., p. 299. 



372 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



ownership of them to St. Peter and his Vicars."* Whether 
this persuasion arose from the supposititious " donation," or 
from the munificence actually exercised, in other respects, by 
the emperor, is not apparent ; but the Pontiff seems to have 
claimed the rights of a feudal sovereign over all those coun- 
tries which were not included within the limits of the empire, 
and which embraced the faith on the preaching of Roman 
missionaries. These pretensions were conformable to the 
prevailing ideas of those ages, in which men conceived all 
countries either as portions of the empire, having the emperor 
as lord paramount, or as free from imperial sway, and go- 
verned by their own rulers, under the protection of the Pontiff. 
In virtue of this feudal sovereignty, he conceived himself au- 
thorized to sanction the enterprise of Henry, which was pro- 
fessedly directed to establish order where anarchy prevailed ; 
and, as head of the Church, he favored the effort to restore 
discipline, which was said to be in a most relaxed condition. 
It is far from my intention to advocate the claim to feudal 
sovereignty, if, indeed, it be contained in the document, which 
is denied by ardent supporters of the papal rights : j but in 
justice to the poor scholar, whose merits raised him to the 
pinnacle of ecclesiastical power, I take leave to state my 
conviction, that he acted in accordance with received opinions 
as to the prerogatives of his station, and from motives worthy 
of one who was charged with the interests of religion. I do 
not affirm that the condition of the Irish Church was such as 
was represented, or that the prince, whose hostility to eccle- 
siastical liberty led to the assassination of St. Thomas of Can- 
terbury, was influenced by religious zeal in his pledges to 
reform it ; but the general character of Adrian for zeal and 
piety prevents my subscribing to his condemnation. 

The grants made by some Popes to Christian kings, and to 
the Teutonic knights, and others, to possess and govern such 
territories as they might gain from pagans by force of arms, 
must necessarily be reduced to sanctions of their military 
enterprise, as justified on general principles of law. The 

* Apud Ughell., t. iii., p. 413. 

f Bianchi, Delia potesta e della politia della chiesa, t. ii., 1. v., § xiii., p. 
353. This author is of opinion, that the Pope put forward no claim to tem- 
poral dominion : but availed himself of his spiritual supremacy to sanction a 
measure which appeared fraught with advantages to religion. 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



373 



state of those countries was such, that it appeared lawful to 
invade them in the common interest of the human species, in 
order to stop unnatural excesses, and to extend civilization. 
This could be done most effectually under a religious sanc- 
tion, which was given by the Pope to those who enrolled 
under the banner of the Cross, having in view to prepare the 
way for the diffusion of religion, by an enterprise that was 
otherwise lawful. It belongs to the followers of Mahomet, 
not of Christ, to make proselytes by the sword. The expedi- 
tions in question were directed to reclaim men from a savage 
state, whilst they served to protect the ministers of religion 
in the exercise of their sacred functions, and converts in the 
profession and practice of their Christian duties. Cistercian 
and Dominican missionaries had preceded the knights in their 
expeditions, and had gained many to the faith. Innocent III., 
writing to the faithful of Saxony and Westphalia, observed : 
" As the discipline of the Church does not allow any one to 
be forced to embrace the faith, so the Holy See freely offers 
protection to believers, and exhorts Christians to defend the 
neophytes, that they may not repent for having come to the 
faith, and return to their former errors. Wherefore we be- 
seech you, and enjoin on you for the remission of your sins, 
that unless the pagans, who live on the confines of Livonia, 
make and observe peace with the Christians, you take arms 
for the defence of your brethren." * Innocent IV., in granting 
to duke Casimir such lands as he might acquire from the 
pagans, added the condition that their profession of Christian- 
ity should be spontaneous. When the Teutonic knights, with 
military force, invaded these territories, the Pope, on com- 
plaint of the duke, confirmed his rights as being prior to their 
invasion, and obliged them to depart. Thus it was evident 
that the papal concessions were directed to regulate the title 
and claims of Christian princes, and to favor the diffusion of 
religion, without prejudice to the free will of the conquered 
people. 

The barbarous habits of the Prussians, who were wont to 
destroy all female children but one of each mother, and who 
otherwise committed unnatural excesses, are the most obvious 
justification of the war made on them under the sanction of 



* Apud Fleury, 1. lxxvi., § xxx. 



374 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



Honorius III., since writers on the laws of nations hold that a 
civilized people may interfere, even by force of arms, to 
prevent a continuance of savage outrages.* The Pope, be- 
sides, was solicited by a bishop already established in that 
country, who complained that the Christians were forced to 
apostatize, or violate their duty, and sought protection from 
these lawless acts. The advantages accruing to society from 
this and similar enterprises, are acknowledged by those who 
condemn them. Michaud says, " whilst condemning the ex- 
cesses of the conquerors of Prussia, we must avow the advan- 
tages which Europe derived from their exploits and victories. 
A nation separated from all others by its manners and usages, 
was united with the Christian republic. Industry, law, reli- 
gion, which followed in the footsteps of the conquerors, to 
mitigate the evils of war, spread their blessings on savage 
hordes. Many flourishing cities sprang up in the midst of the 
forests ; and the oak of Romove, beneath which human victims 
used to be immolated, gave place to churches wherein charity 
and all the evangelical virtues were taught." f "At the 
sight of the cross in the midst of deserts and forests, there 
arose cities : Dantzick, Thorn, Elbing, Koenigsberg, &c. — 
Finland, Lithuania, Pomerania, Silesia, became flourishing 
provinces under the standard of Christ : new nations sprang 
up, new states were formed ; and, to complete these prodigies, 
the arms of the crusaders marked the spot where was to be 
raised a monarchy unknown to the middle ages, and which, 
in the present age, has risen to the rank of the great powers 
of Europe. At the end of the thirteenth age, the provinces 
whence the Prussian monarchy derives its name and origin, 
were separated from Christendom by idolatry and savage 
habits : the conquest and civilization of these provinces were 
the result of the crusades. J 

Christian princes who undertook to explore undiscovered re- 
gions, sought the papal sanction, lest other potentates should 
interfere with their rights, and deprive them of the fruits of 
their enterprises. About the year 1438, Eugene the Fourth 
granted to the king of Portugal an exclusive right to all the 

* See Notes of Barbeyrac on Puffendorff Du Droit de la Guerre, 1. viii., 
ch. vi. See also Grotius de Jure belli et pacis, 1. ii., ch. xx., n. 40. 
f Histoire des Croisades, 1. xii., p. 514, X Ibidem, 1. xxii., p. 205. 



PAPAL SANCTION. 375 

countries which might be discovered by his subjects from Cape 
Non to the continent of India, arid Nicholas V., in 1454, recog- 
nised his right over Guinea. It is vain to say that the Pope 
had no authority to dispose of these countries ; for he was only 
called on to protect the discoverers against the unjust interfe- 
rence of other princes, by recognising the right which, accord- 
ing to the law of nations, accrued from discovery. This he 
was perfectly competent to do, from the relation which he bore 
to the Christian powers generally : and accordingly, as Ro- 
bertson remarks, " all Christian princes were deterred from in- 
truding into those countries which the Portuguese had disco- 
vered, or from interrupting the progress of their navigation 
and conquest."* On the remonstrance of John II. of Portugal, 
Edward IV. of England forbade his subjects to open a trade 
with the coast of Guinea, lest they should violate the papal 
prohibition. 

The Bull of Alexander VI., fixing limits for the discoveries 
of the kings of Spain and Portugal, is frequently represented 
as the most extravagant instance of papal pretensions : yet 
learned men, Protestant as well as Catholic, regard it only as 
a solemn sanction of rights already acquired according to the 
laws of nations, and as a measure directed to prevent war be- 
tween Christian princes. It is certain, as Washington Irving 
well observes,! that Ferdinand and Isabella conceived, and in 
their application to the Pontiff stated, that their title to the 
newly-discovered lands was, in the opinion of many learned 
men, sufficiently established by the formal possession taken of 
them by Columbus, in the name of the Spanish crown : but 
they desired a public recognition of their right, lest others 
should profit by the discovery, who had not shared in the en- 
terprise. From the position which the Pope long occupied as 
father of princes, and highest expounder of law and justice, his 
act was the most solemn confirmation of the title, and the 
greatest safeguard against encroachment. The terms employ- 
ed of " giving, granting, and bestowing, of the plenitude of 
authority," are only designed to express in the fullest and 
strongest manner the pontifical sanction and confirmation. 
" The Roman Pontiffs," says Cardinal Baluffi, " as universal 

* History of America, 1. i. 

f Life and Writings of Christopher Columbus, 1. v., c. viii., p. 186. 



376 



PAPAL SANCTION. 



fathers, not because they imagined themselves to be lords of 
the whole earth, but in order to prevent the effusion of Chris- 
tian blood, found themselves, at the epoch of the discovery of 
America, in circumstances which rendered it desirable that 
they should divide the countries, and mark mutual limits to 
the conquests of the nations that took arms against unknown 
nations."* Wheaton, in his great work on international law, 
recognises that the Pope acted, in this case, in the capacity of 
arbiter between the Christian nations : " As between the 
Christian nations the sovereign Pontiff was the supreme arbi- 
ter of conflicting claims. Hence the famous Bull issued by 
Pope Alexander the Sixth, in 1493."f " This bold stretch of 
papal authority," says Prescott, " was in a measure justified 
by the event, since it did, in fact, determine the principles on 
which the vast extent of unappropriated empire in the Eastern 
and Western hemispheres was ultimately divided between two 
petty States of Europe."J It should not surprise us that the 
right to give, as it were, a charter for the discovery of unknown 
lands to a national corporation, in the Christian confederacy, 
should be recognised in him whose office imposed on him the 
duty of spreading the Gospel throughout all nations. This 
temporal attribution might easily attach itself, by general con- 
sent, to his spiritual supremacy, the exercise of which in the 
diffusion of religion it facilitated, by the support and protec- 
tion given in return by the princes whose enterprise was fa- 
vored. The personal character of the Pontiff did not disquali- 
fy him, in their minds, from discharging the high function of 
arbiter between them ; and Divine Providence gave to the 
world this sublime instance of the salutary influence of the 
papacy in directing an enterprise which has resulted in the 
discovery of the New World.§ 

* L' America un tempo Spagnuola de Gaetano Baluffi. Ancona, 1844. 

f Elements of International Law, part ii., ch. iv., p. 210. 

I Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii., ch. xviii. 

§ See Du Pape, 1. ii., c. xiv., par le Comte De Maistre. 



CHAPTER VI. 



PAPAL POLITY. 



To judge fairly of the acts of the Popes, we must consider the 
general principles by which they were governed, and which, 
in a greater or less degree, were common to the ages in which 
they lived. The first great principle, which was the very ba- 
sis on which all social order reposed, was, that the Christian 
revelation and law must be the supreme rule for princes and 
people, for nations singly and collectively. Christianity was, 
in fact, the supreme law of all Christendom. Hence it is still 
considered as a part of the common law of England,* and as 
such it is even received in these United States,f although the 
State and General Constitutions have virtually annulled its 
legal consequences. Arnold contends that the State has a 
right to adopt Christianity, if it think proper : " A State may 
as justly declare the New Testament to be its law, as it may 
choose the Institutes and Code of Justinian. In this manner 
the law of Christ's Church may be made its law ; and all the 
institutions which this law enjoins, whether in ritual or disci- 
pline, may be adopted as national institutions, just as legiti- 
mately as any institutions of mere human origin."J The na- 
tions, in the middle ages, did not feel themselves morally free 
to adopt or to reject the Christian law, which, as they acknow- 
ledged it to be from God, they held to be binding, independently 
of their act ; and to which they felt bound to conform their 
municipal and international legislation. The Popes instinc- 

* Blackstone, Comm., 1. iv., n. 60. 

f " In the United States there is no established Church : it has been con- 
sidered, however, that we received the Christian religion as part of the com- 
mon law."- Chitty, note on Blackstone, in loc. 

% Introductory Lectures on Modern History, by Thomas Arnold, D.D. 
Appendix to Inaugural Lecture, p. 69. 



378 



PAPAL POLITY. 



tively acted on this principle, and regarded as null and sacri- 
legious every human enactment which was opposed to. the 
divine commandments. Michaud remarks : "In reading over 
the annals of the middle ages, we cannot but admire one of 
the most charming spectacles ever presented by human so- 
ciety, namely, Christian Europe acknowledging but one reli- 
gion, having but one law, forming as it were but one empire, 
governed by one chief, who spoke in the name of God, and 
whose mission was to make the Gospel reign on earth. In the 
eleventh and twelfth centuries, the nations of Europe, subject 
to the authority of St. Peter, were united, one with the other, 
by a stronger tie than that of knowledge, and directed by a 
more powerful impulse than that of liberty : this bond was the 
Universal Church."* 

The relations of the Church to the State, which resulted 
from this principle, were far different from a union of both 
powers, which consists in their combination and concentration : 
whereas the Church always strongly protested against every 
attempt on the part of the State to encroach on her rights, or 
to control her in the legitimate exercise of her authority. She 
taught her children to render to Cesar the things which are 
Cesar's, but she enjoined on them most especially to render to 
God the things which are God's. Giving a religious sanction 
to the civil authority, in its proper sphere, she claimed an ex- 
clusive right to regulate what appertains to the supernatural 
order, and to govern men in the things of salvation. Hence 
Ranke has well remarked, that " in this separation of the 
Church from the State consists, perhaps, the greatest and most 
pervading, and most influential peculiarity of all Christian 
times."f The great struggle between the Popes and tempo- 
ral princes, in regard to investitures, was an effort on the part 
of the Popes to drive them back within the limits of their own 
jurisdiction, and recover the territory of the Church which 
they had invaded. Under the pretext that, as civil rulers, they 
bestowed lands and other temporal advantages on the Church, 
— which, however, was rarely the case, the episcopal posses- 
sions having been seldom the gifts of the reigning prince, or 
even of his predecessors, — they took on them to instal bishops, 

* Histoire des Croisades, 1. xiii., p. 98. 
f History of the Popes, vol. i., ch. i., p. 29. 



PAPAL POLITY. 



379 



by placing in their hand the pastoral staff, and putting the 
episcopal ring on their finger. Thus they insensibly came to 
control their election, and put on the episcopal chair the com- 
panions of their debauch and the ministers of their vengeance. 
The enormous scandals which defiled the sanctuary, in the 
tenth and eleventh ages especially, were mainly to be traced 
to this usurpation : to resist which, St. Gregory VII., and his 
successors, exposed themselves to suffering and persecution. 
Paschal II., treacherously made prisoner by Henry V., at the 
moment when he was preparing to place the imperial crown 
on his head, yielded to the advice and entreaties of some who 
implored him to save his own life, and the lives of his adhe- 
rents, by conceding the privilege ; but he soon felt that he had 
betrayed his duty, and in a solemn Council, with tears deplor- 
ed his momentary weakness. The bonds of the Church were 
by successive efforts burst asunder, and her liberty was at- 
tended with the renovation of her prelacy, who shone forth 
in the beauty of holiness. Emperors and kings occasionally 
became her benefactors, and atoned for the wrongs which 
their predecessors had inflicted. "It is somewhat remarka- 
ble," writes Mr. Allies, " that that Church which maintains a 
standing protest against the interference of the State with spi- 
ritual matters, (a protest for which she is worthy of all respect 
and admiration,) should owe to the support of the State, in dif- 
ferent periods of her history, very much more of her power 
than any other church. It may be that God rewards the fear- 
less maintenance of spiritual rights by the grant of that very 
temporal power which threatens them with destruction."* I 
believe that her indebtedness to the State is very small. 

The compacts made between the people and the sovereign, 
which were confirmed by the rite of coronation, embraced the 
immunities and privileges of the Church, which the prince 
bound himself to maintain inviolate. Hence, when these 
were invaded, holy prelates resisted the perjured sovereign, 
professing their submission to his just authority, but their un- 
willingness to betray the interests of religion entrusted to 
their charge. The Pope encouraged them by his approbation, 
threatening to hurl the censures of the Church against the 
violator of her rights. We are not now to inquire whether 



* Church of England Cleared, &c., p. 114. 



380 



PAPAL POLITY. 



these immunities ought to have been originally conceded. 
They actually formed part of the compact in virtue of which 
the monarch reigned, and could not be disregarded with- 
out a breach of his sworn engagement. In enforcing them, 
the Pontiff acted in accordance with the general usages and 
public law of the age. 

Some of the most illustrious prelates that adorned the Eng- 
lish hierarchy are celebrated for their intrepid maintenance of 
ecclesiastical immunities. St. Anselm, with sacerdotal forti- 
tude, contended for the privileges and freedom of the Church 
against William Rufus and Henry I., whilst he most sincerely 
professed submission to the lawful authority of the sovereign : 
" In the things of God I shall obey," he said, " the Vicar of St. 
Peter : in what regards the dignity of my lord the king, I 
shall give my best counsel and aid to maintain it." # 

St. Thomas of Canterbury deemed it the duty of his office 
to maintain the ecclesiastical immunities against the encroach- 
ments of his temporal sovereign, and ventured to rebuke him 
as deviating from the line of duty which became a Catholic 
prince. Addressing Henry II., he says : " If you are a good 
and Catholic king, and wish to be what we believe and what 
all still more desire, if I may say it with your leave, you are 
a child of the Church, not her ruler ; you should learn from 
the priests, not teach them ; you should follow the priests in 
ecclesiastical matters, not go before them. You have power 
peculiar to yourself, bestowed on you by God for the adminis- 
tration of the laws, that, being grateful for his favors, you may 
do nothing contrary to the order divinely established."! " Most 
beloved king, God wills that the direction of the things of the 
Church should belong to His priests, not to the powers of the 
world, which, if they be faithful, He wishes to be submissive 
to the priests of His Church." J Innocent III. wrote to Sanctius 
II. of Portugal in these terms : " We beseech you, most be- 
loved son, through the mercy of Jesus Christ, to be content 
with the authority which God has given you, and not at all 
to stretch your hands to matters ecclesiastical, as we do not 
stretch our hands to matters of royal prerogative."^ 

* Conventus Rochinghamiensis, t. x., Cone, p. 494. 

f Apud Baron., an. 1166, p. 535. J Ibidem, p. 536. 

§ Apud Raynald., an. 1211. 



PAPAL POLITY 



381 



With reference to the principles of civil government, it may- 
be safely asserted that the Popes were uniformly favorable to 
popular rights and liberty, although with strict regard to pub- 
lic order and established authority. St. Gregory the Great 
rebuked an imperial officer for extreme severity in punishing 
crime, which, he said, reflected disgrace on the power which 
he exercised, the subjects of the emperor being freemen, not 
slaves : " This is the difference between the kings of the na- 
tions, and the emperors of the Romans, — that the kings of the 
nations are lords of slaves, the emperor of the Romans is the 
lord of freemen. Wherefore, in all your acts, you should, in 
the first place, have a strict regard to justice, and next, you 
should preserve liberty in all things."* Gregory IX. re- 
proached Frederick II. with being at once a " persecutor of 
the Church, and a destroyer of public liberty," by the unjust 
laws which he threatened to promulgate. In opposing the 
union of Sicily with the empire, the Popes guarded against 
the accumulation of power in the hands of one man ; and in 
the various acts of papal opposition to imperial encroachment, 
the liberty of Italy, Germany, and the nations generally, was 
vindicated. Michaud avows : " But for the Pope, it is proba- 
ble that Europe would have fallen under the yoke of the em- 
perors of Germany. The policy of the sovereign Pontiffs, by 
weakening the imperial power, favored in Germany the liberty 
of the cities, and the increase and duration of the small 
States. We do not hesitate to add, that the thunders of the 
Holy See saved the independence of Italy, and perhaps of 
France."f "This policy of the Popes resulted in freeing 
Italy from the yoke of the German emperors, so that this rich 
country for sixty years did not behold the imperial troops." J 
" Liberty and the Church " were inspiring watchwords of the 
Lombard league. Venice, Verona, Padua, Vicentia, combined 
against Frederick, pro tuenda libertate, in defence of liberty. § 
Pope Alexander was their friend and ally, so that when the 
Lombards listened to overtures made on the part of Frederick, 
they made an express proviso in behalf of the Roman Church, 
and of their own liberty ; and, on the other hand, when the 
Pope was solicited to accede to some proposals of the em- 

* L x., ep. 41. f Histoire des Croisades, 1. xiii., p. 97. 

% Ibid., 1. xvi., p. 454. § Baronius, an. 1164. 

24 



382 



PAPAL POLITY. 



peror, he declined any final action without the concurrence of 
the Lombards, who had nobly fought, as he publicly declared, 
for the welfare of the Church, and the liberty of Italy.* The 
like sympathies manifested themselves on many occasions. 
" Tuscany," says Hallam, " had hitherto been ruled by a mar- 
quis of the emperor's appointment, though her cities were 
flourishing, and, within themselves, independent. In imitation 
of the Lombard confederacy, and impelled by Innocent III., 
they now (with the exception of Pisa, which was always 
strongly attached to the empire) founded a similar league for 
the preservation of their rights. In this league the influence 
of the Pope was far more strongly manifested than in that of 
Lombardy."f 

It was the constant study of the Popes to guard against the 
perpetuity of the imperial authority in the same family, by 
mere title of descent, and to maintain the elective principle. 
In the vacancy of the empire under Innocent III., the majority 
of votes were for Philip of Swabia, who was deemed by In- 
nocent totally unworthy, and in whose election the necessary 
conditions had not been attended to. Frederick had in his 
favor hereditary right, being son of the deceased emperor. 
The opposition of the Pope to both of the candidates, led some 
of the princes to murmur, as if he sought to take from them 
the privilege of electing, which, in his instructions to his am- 
bassadors, he denied most unequivocally : " In order effectually 
to close the mouth of such as speak unjustly, and to prevent 
credit being given to the slanders of those who assert that we 
mean to take from the princes the liberty of election, you 
should oftentimes, by word of mouth, and in writing, repeat 
to all that we have had regard to their liberty in this matter, 
and we have sought to preserve it inviolate : for we have not 
chosen any one, but we have favored, and we still favor him 
who was chosen by the majority of the persons entitled to a 
vote in the choice of the emperor, and crowned in the proper 
place, and by the proper person, since the Apostolic See should 
crown him emperor who was duly crowned king. We also 
stand up for the liberty of the princes, whilst we utterly deny 
our sanction to him who claims the empire on the score of 
succession : for it would appear that the empire was not con- 



* Baronius, an. 1177. f Middle Ages, vol. i., ch. iii., par. i., p. 259. 



PAPAL POLITY. 



383 



ferred by the election of the princes, but by succession, if, as 
formerly, the son succeeded the father, so now the brother 
should succeed the brother, or the son succeed the father, 
without any intermediate person."* In speaking of Rudolph, 
duke of Swabia, whom an assembly of revolted princes raised 
to the throne in place of Henry, Hallam observes : " We may 
perceive in the conditions of Rudolph's election, a symptom of 
the real principle that animated the German aristocrac}" 
against Henry IV. It was agreed that the kingdom should no 
longer be hereditary, nor conferred on the son of a reigning 
monarch without popular approbation. The Pope strongly 
encouraged this plan of rendering the empire elective."! He 
otherwise labored to confine the imperial power within just 
limits, and to the papal vigilance must be ascribed that " be- 
fore Charles V., the emperors durst not assume despotic 
power." J 

The several monarchies which under the favor of the Popes 
arose in the middle ages, were virtually republics, with presi- 
dents during good behaviour, the sovereigns being considered 
only a degree above the nobles, and liable to forfeit their 
power should they abuse it. Voltaire, speaking of the thir- 
teenth century, observes : " Castille and Aragon were king- 
doms at that time ; but we must not imagine that their sove- 
reigns were absolute : there were none such in Europe. The 
nobles in Spain, more than elsewhere, confined the royal 
authority within strict limits. The people of Aragon still 
repeat the ancient formulary used in the inauguration of their 
kings. The chief justice of the kingdom, in the name of the 
various classes of citizens, said : ' We, who are as good as 
you, and more powerful than you, make you our king and 
lord, on condition that you preserve our privileges, and not 
otherwise.' " § " The oath made by the kings (of Poland) on 
their coronation contained an express call on the nation to 
dethrone them, in case they did not observe the laws which 
they swore to respect."|| As long as the Pope was revered, 
as the father and judge of kings, these felt that there were 
limits which they could not pass without peril : but when it 

* Ep. liy., apud Raynald., an. 1201. f Middle Ages, vol. i., ch. v., p. 460. 
| Voltaire, Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, t. iii., ch. cxvii. 
§ Ibidem, t. ii., ch lx. || Ibidem, ch. cxv. 



384 



PAPAL POLITY. 



was proclaimed that kings are answerable only to God, a 
deep wound was inflicted on popular liberty in the attack on 
pontifical supremacy. Royalty itself paid the penalty of its 
independence. When the Pontiff let fall from his hand the 
mace which he had brandished to awe tyrants, the people, 
seizing it, wielded it with brutal force, and left even just 
monarchs weltering in their blood. England saw Charles I. 
perish by the hands of the public executioner ; and France 
doomed the meek Louis XVI. to the same ignominious end. 
Never was a papal sentence of deposition exhibited on a scaf- 
fold ! 

Whilst the Popes labored to instruct kings in justice, they 
cherished with parental fondness the Italian republics, which 
grew up under their fostering protection. At the request of 
the doge of Venice, Gregory IX. became the special protector 
of that republic, and gave her the waters as her portion. It 
long flourished in arms and arts, commerce and enterprise of 
every honorable kind, the ally and friend of Rome, until Sarpi 
and other false men disturbed that harmony, by disregarding 
the ancient immunities of the clergy, which, in the zenith of 
her power, Venice had respected. The eternal city still 
stands in her strength, whilst the queen of the waters has for- 
feited her dowry ; and the German soldier guards the palace, 
where her merchant princes once deliberated whether they 
would grant the favors which sovereigns did not disdain to 
ask at their hands. The favor of the Pontiffs was always 
lavishly bestowed on the republic, unless in circumstances of 
this unfortunate character, in which the usages, which for 
ages had been deemed laws of the whole Christian confede- 
racy, were wantonly violated. Many interesting examples of 
Papal interposition to appease the dissensions of republics, one 
with the other, or within themselves, are recorded. Speaking 
of the struggles for office between the aristocracy and com- 
monalty, Hallam says : " In one or two cities, a temporary 
compromise was made through the intervention of the Pope, 
whereby offices of public trust, from the highest to the lowest, 
were divided in equal proportions, or otherwise, between the 
nobles and the people. This is no bad expedient, and proved 
singularly efficacious in appeasing the dissensions of ancient 
Rome."* It is pleasing to be able to point out such examples 

* Middle Ages, vol. i., ch. iii., par. i., p. 278. 



PAPAL POLITY. 



385 



of pontifical interposition to regulate the social relations in 
such a manner as to satisfy every class of the community, 

Rome .herself long preserved her republican character. 
Saint-Priest says : ''Rome, from the age of Constantine, under 
the title of republic, which she never lost, had become a kind 
of free city, which, for illustration sake, I shall compare to 
the Hanseatic cities of the north of Germany."* The Pope 
might well be styled the father and protector of the Roman 
republic. The desolation of the city, sometimes by famine, 
and often by hostile armies, imposed on him the necessity of 
defending it ; and his treasury, containing the revenues aris- 
ing from the possessions of the Roman Church in other places, 
was exhausted to furnish provisions to the famishing people, 
and to protect the remains of the imperial city from the in- 
cursions of hostile armies. With paternal solicitude, the third 
and fourth Leo directed their efforts to secure the city by a 
wall. At the entreaty of the nobles, who complained of the 
Saracen depredations, Leo IV. determined to execute what 
his predecessor had designed, and according]}" summoned the 
citizens to Council, arranged his plans, ordering the cities de 
pendant on the republic, and the monasteries themselves, to 
furnish mechanics, and for four years he spared no personal 
labor or exposure, until the work was completed. There are 
traces of republican deliberation in this narrative, and every 
thing warrants us in regarding the Pontiff as the father, rather 
than lord of his people. 

Hallam considers the cession of his claims b}" the emperor 
Rudolph, in 1278, as the period at which the civil principality 
of the Pontiff was completely established. "This," he says, 
" is a leading epoch in the temporal monarchy of Rome. But 
she stood only in the place of the emperor ; and her ultimate 
sovereignty was compatible with the practical independence 
of the free cities, or of the usurpers who had risen up among 
them. Bologna, Faenza, Rimini and Ravenna, with many 
other less considerable, took an oath indeed to the Pope, but 
continued to regulate both their internal concerns and foreign 
relations at their own discretion. The first of these cities 
was far pre-eminent above the rest for population and re- 
nown, and, though not without several interruptions, preserved 



* Histoire de la Royaute, 1. iii., p. 284. 



386 



PAPAL POLITY. 



a republican character till the end of the fourteenth cen- 
tury." * The Romans often went beyond the limits of a mu- 
nicipal power, and reduced the papal sovereignty to a pro- 
tectorate void of all efficiency. On their reconciliation, in one 
instance, with an exiled Pontiff, they offered to bestow on him 
the title of Senator, which he condescended to receive, with 
a proviso, that it should not prejudice his higher claims to 
authority. They frequently assumed to themselves supreme 
power, as Hallam again testifies : " In the twelfth and thir- 
teenth centuries, the Senate, and the senator who succeeded 
them, exercised one distinguishing attribute of sovereignty, 
that of coining gold and silver money. Some of their coins 
still exist, with legends in a very republican tone." f In the 
vicissitudes of ages, Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Genoa, and 
Milan, have lost their republican institutions ; but the small 
republic of S. Marino, in the papal territory, remains as the 
memorial of the past, and the Pope is still the father of his 
people, ruling them with mild sway, and making all his tem- 
poral measures subordinate to the maintenance of truth and 
virtue. Using the power which Providence has placed in his 
hands for the protection of all, he gives to each one the se- 
curity of property and life, and those rights which are gua- 
ranteed by the principles of justice and humanity contained 
in the Gospel. If at any time republican institutions have 
been viewed with suspicion at Rome, it was only when they 
were violently obtruded to disturb established order, with 
danger to the general peace and security, and when the ene- 
mies of religion, in the name of liberty, declared war against 
that see, which had been, in the worst of times, its most 
strenuous vindicator. Our present Pontiff has spontaneously 
made considerable advances towards the restoration of the 
republican character of the Roman administration. 

Among the most civilized nations, most attached to liberty, 
slavery prevailed when the Gospel was first preached, and the 
apostles, careful not to disturb the actual order of society, in- 
culcated to the slave submission, to the master humanity. The 
Popes faithfully followed their example, as has been shown 
by the late lamented Bishop of Charleston, in his learned let- 
ters on this subject. Yet whilst respecting existing relations, 



Middle Ages, vol. i., ch. iii., p. ii., p. 293. f Ibid., p. 295. 



PAPAL POLITY. 



387 



they did much to mitigate the evils of servitude, and to raise 
the slave to that moral elevation which might fit him for the 
enjoyment of civil liberty. Encouragement was given to the 
manumission of slaves ; the natural rights of man, in regard 
to the freedom of marriage, were held to be inviolable, not- 
withstanding his social dependency ; and religious privileges 
were communicated to all without distinction. The salvation 
of the slave was especially had in view ; for which reason St. 
Gregory directed the revenues of the patrimony of St. Peter 
in Gaul to be employed in the purchase of English slaves, who 
might be trained up in monasteries to the knowledge and prac- 
tice of religion. In the middle of the eighth century, Zachary 
gave a noble example of similar zeal and humanity. Some 
Venetian merchants had purchased at Rome a great number 
of slaves, with a view to sell them at a higher price, for trans- 
portation to Africa. The Pope, shocked at the thought of 
the danger of salvation to which the poor slaves would be 
exposed, generously indemnified the merchants for their out- 
lay of money, and set the slaves at liberty. It were an end- 
less task to enumerate all the acts of various Popes in behalf 
of slaves. It is sufficient to observe, that Alexander III., in 
the year 1167, in the Council of Lateran, declared that all 
Christians should be thenceforward free. " True to the spirit 
of his office," says Bancroft, " which, during the supremacy of 
brute force in the middle ages, made of the chief minister of 
religion the tribune of the people, and the guardian of the 
oppressed, he had written that nature having made no slaves, 
all men have an equal right to liberty."* Voltaire has ren- 
dered homage to the humanity of Alexander : " This law 
alone should render his memory dear to all nations, as his 
efforts in support of the liberty of Italy must endear his me- 
mory to the Italians."| 

In order to promote true liberty, which needs the salutary 
restraint of law, the Popes promoted the study of civil juris- 
prudence. The foundations of social order were laid in va- 
rious enactments directed to maintain natural rights, and to 
restrain violence by the censures of the Church : but it was 

* Bancroft, vol. i., p. 163. Writing to Lupus, king of Valentia, Alexander 
says : " Cum autem omnes liberos natura creasset, nullus conditione naturce 
fuit subditus servituti." 

t Essai sur PHistoire Generate, t. ii., ch. lxxix. 



388 



PAPAL POLITY. 



their earnest desire to see the social fabric rise in just pro- 
portions on the pillars of law, for which end they exerted 
their utmost influence to introduce everywhere its study. The 
civil law, as we are wont to designate the code used in the 
Roman empire, had been neglected and forgotten during the 
tumult and wars consequent on its dissolution, and usages de- 
rived from barbarian ancestors were the only rules of con- 
duct acknowledged by the races that were spread over the 
greater part of southern Europe. It was revived in the Italian 
universities, especially in Bologna, where professors of great 
celebrity unravelled its intricacies with untiring ingenuity. 
Hallam observes : " The love of equal liberty and just laws 
in the Italian cities rendered the profession of jurisprudence 
exceedingly honorable ; the doctors of Bologna and other uni- 
versities were frequently called to the office of podesta, or 
criminal judge, in those small republics ; in Bologna itself 
they were officially members of the smaller or secret council ; 
and their opinions, which they did not render gratuitously, 
were sought with the respect that had been shown at Rome 
to their ancient masters of the age of Severus."* 

Innocent IV., although he discountenanced the study of the 
civil law by clergymen, to the neglect of the more necessary 
qualifications for the sacred ministry, directed schools of law 
to be opened at Rome, and founded at Placentia a univer- 
sity, in which it was specially taught. Padua also was for 
some time the successful rival of Bologna in this science. The 
Cesarean code is acknowledged to contain the most just ar- 
rangement of the family and social relations ; and if in any 
case its provisions were found severe, the mild spirit of the 
Church tempered its rigor, in the name of equity. Thus the 
confusion necessarily arising from the undefined customs of 
nations emerging from barbarism was remedied, and instead 
of a variety of laws, usages, and tribunals, which threatened 
society with anarchy, the beauty and order of a comprehen- 
sive code were exemplified in all the relations of life. What 
is even termed common law, namely, ancient English usage, 
which jurists refer to laws of Alfred or Edward, no longer 
extant, and deduce from the uniformity observable in the 
principles of judicial decisions from time immemorial, may 



* Hallam, Literature of Europe, ch. i., n. 68. 



PAPAL POLITY. 



389 



be, to a great extent, no more than the maxims of Christian 
justice, or natural right, as expounded by Christian judges, or 
as known from the civil law generally adopted. It is impos- 
sible to estimate how much the actual state of society, as far 
as it is regulated by law, is owing to the impulse given by the 
Popes in the thirteenth century to the study of jurisprudence. 
" During the middle ages," says Wheaton, " the Christian 
States of Europe began to unite, and to acknowledge the obli- 
gation of an international law, common to all who professed 
the same religious faith. This law was founded mainly upon 
the following circumstances : — first, the union of the Latin 
Church under one spiritual head, whose authority was often 
invoked as the supreme arbiter between sovereigns and be- 
tween nations. Second, the revival of the study of the Ro- 
man law, and the adoption of this system of jurisprudence by 
nearly all the nations of Christendom, either as the basis of 
their municipal codes, or as subsidiary to the local legislation 
in each country."* 

The mode of proceedings in criminal cases, laid down with 
great wisdom by the Council of Lateran, under Innocent III., 
has served as the rule of criminal jurisprudence in secular as 
well as ecclesia.stical courts. Where a public report prevails 
of the commission of crime, inquiry is to be made by the 
judge, and information sought. Such is now the practice of 
the Grand Jury as a Court of Inquest, preparatory to their 
making a presentment. f The canon, however, requires the 
individual whom the report regards, to be present at the in- 
vestigation, unless he absent himself contumaciously, fle is 
to be apprised of the charges made against him, that he may 
have an opportunity of defending himself. The judge is di- 
rected to communicate to him the names of the witnesses, and 
their depositions, and to receive his objections and defence. 
The Roman law required that the accusation should be given 
in writing to the judge, which regulation was inserted in the 
decretals of Isidore : but the entire process above delineated 
may be fairly ascribed to the eminent Pontiff, Innocent III. J 

Of the Popes most especially may be said what a modern 
writer says of the clergy generally, that " almost all the great 

* Elements of International Law, preface to third edition. 

t Blackstone, Comm., 1. iv., n. 301. 

% C. Qualiter et quando 24, de accus. extra. 



390 



PAPAL POLITY. 



social improvements which took place were accomplished un- 
der their influence. They at all times took part with the 
kings against the feudal anarchy. The enfranchisement of 
the mass of the people from personal servitude, they not only 
favored, but inculcated as a Christian duty."* Chancellor 
Kent truly observes, that " the history of Europe, during the 
early periods of modern history, abounds with interesting and 
strong cases, to show the authority of the Church over turbu- 
lent princes, and fierce warriors, and the effect of that author- 
ity in meliorating manners, checking violence, and introducing 
a system of morals which inculcated peace, moderation, and 
justice."! 

* Edinburg Review, No. 159, January, 1844, on Michelet's History of 
France. • 

f Commentaries on American Law, by James Kent, lecture L 



m 



CHAPTER VII. 



CRUSADES. 



The influence and power of the Pope in temporal matters, con- 
nected with the interests of religion, appeared in the most ex- 
traordinary degree, in the great movements of the European 
powers for the recovery of the Holy Land. It has been long 
fashionable to condemn these wars as fanatical, if not wholly 
unchristian ; but we should be slow to censure what met with 
the universal approbation of the most enlightened and holy 
men, during several centuries. It is more becoming to inquire 
into the principles on which they acted, and judge them ac- 
cording to their motives. My object, however, is to explain 
the part which the Popes took in these wars, and the influence 
which they exercised. 

Jerusalem and all the parts of Palestine consecrated by the 
footsteps of our Divine Redeemer, were viewed with special 
veneration by all Christians from the earliest period. In the 
seventh century they fell under the Mahommedan yoke, and 
were thenceforward, for three centuries, subject to the caliphs 
of Bagdad and of Cairo alternately, until the power of the 
Egyptian sultan prevailed over them. In 1076, Jerusalem was 
wrested from his dominion by Malek Shah, a prince of the 
Seljuk Turks from Tartary, who, some time previously, had 
invaded Syria, and other provinces. The struggle of the 
hostile clans continued for eighteen years, when the Egyptians 
again regained the ascendency. In the mean time, the pil- 
grims, who flocked from Europe to the holy places, experi- 
enced the ferocity of the new lords of Palestine, and the Chris- 
tian inhabitants of the country were most cruelly oppressed. 
The sufferings of the Eastern Christians had awakened the 



392 



CRUSADES. 



sympathy of their brethren in Europe, in the tenth century ; 
and the design of aiding them to shake off the yoke under 
which they groaned, received the sanction of the most enlight- 
ened Pontiff of that age. " At the close of the tenth century," 
says Mills. 44 Pope Sylvester II., the ornament of his age, en- 
treated the Church universal to succor the Church of Jerusa- 
lem, and to redeem a sepulchre which the prophet Isaiah had 
said should be a glorious one, and which the sons of the de- 
stroyer, Satan, were making inglorious."* The subsequent 
success of the Turks filled with alarm the emperor of Constan- 
tinople, Michael Ducas, who, in 1073, applied to Gregory VII. 
to obtain aid against an enemy formidable to all the Christian 
powers.f The magnanimous Pontiff received the application 
favorably, especially as the hope was held out that the reunion 
of the Greeks with the Church would result from the efforts of 
the Latins in their behalf. When enlisting an army for the 
defence of the possessions of the Apostolic See in Campania, 
against the Normans, he expressed the hope that the enemy 
would be deterred from battle by the military preparations, so 
that the troops might be employed for the succor of the Orien- 
tal Christians. In an encyclical letter he solicited the aid of 
the faithful generally, that he might send the desired relief. 
Fifty thousand soldiers were ready to march to the East, but 
the difficulties in which he himself was involved, prevented 
the prosecution of the generous design. Victor III., who suc- 
ceeded him, encouraged the citizens of Pisa, Genoa, and other 
towns of Italy, to follow up the undertaking, especially as the 
Saracens infested the Mediterranean, and threatened the Ita- 
lian coasts. The combined forces of these Christian powers 
made a successful descent on the coast of Africa, and reduced 
under their power Al Mahadia and Sibila, in the territory of 
Carthage, and obliged a king of Mauritania to pay tribute to 
the Holy See. J 

Alexius Comnenus, who occupied the imperial throne, in 
1094, implored the succor of the West, through ambassadors, 
who, in a Council held at Piacenza, at which Urban II. presid- 
ed, urged the demand. Four thousand clergyman and thirty 

* History of the Crusades, by Charles Mills, ch. i., p. 20. 

f Hallam, Middle Ages, vol. 1, ch. i. 

I Histoire des Croisades, par Michaud, 1. i. 3 p. 88. 



CRUSADES. 



393 



thousand laymen, congregated in the open country, near the 
town, received the proposals with acclamation. The narrative 
of Peter the hermit, a Frenchman, who had just returned from 
Palestine, contributed not a little to excite the sympathy and 
inflame the zeal of the Pontiff. He had been an eye-witness 
of the cruel oppressio of the Eastern Christians, and had been 
charged by the Oriental Patriarch to represent their sad con- 
dition, and implore aid of their European brethren. From the 
court of Rome he hastened back to his native country, and 
everywhere repeated the tale of woe, so as to move to tears 
all who heard him. In 1095, a Council was called at Clermont; 
and as the numbers who assembled could not be contained in 
any of the churches, an open square was chosen for the deli- 
berations. Urban, who presided, spoke with an eloquence that 
seemed supernatural ; and as he concluded his exhortation to 
hasten to the relief of their suffering brethren, the immense as- 
semblage, as if by inspiration, cried out : It is the will of God. 

The enthusiasm with which the address of Urban was re- 
ceived, and the promptitude wherewith the glorious badge of 
enrolment was assumed, should persuade us that the motives 
for the expedition were plainly just and sacred. It is not to 
be thought that in any age, or under any circumstances, thou- 
sands and tens of thousands would abandon their countries and 
homes, and expose life, for an object not evidently just, at the 
bidding of an individual, however elevated in station. Nobles, 
with generous enthusiasm, left the court for the distant plains 
of Palestine, to fight for the liberation of their suffering breth- 
ren, and, at a great sacrifice, they sold their domains to pro- 
cure money for the expedition : their vassals felt honored in 
being allowed to follow them to the field of danger, where the 
conflict was not with a rival lord, but with the enemies of re- 
ligion and of man. The monks went forth from their cloister 
to console and succor the crusaders, and the bishops, with 
large numbers of their flocks, were seen hastening to the sa- 
cred standard. The zeal of the Pontiff led him to visit various 
other cities of France, and to address fervent exhortations to 
the immense multitudes that everywhere assembled at bis call. 
Although countless numbers had perished on the journey by 
disease, and in conflict with the people of Hungary, Bulgaria, 
Greece, and other places, who resisted the'r progress, and re- 
fused them provisions, he nowise relented in his grand purpose ; 



394 



CRUSADES. 



but meeting at Lucca a host of crusaders, who accompanied 
the count of Vermandois, he placed in his hands the standard 
of the Church, that he might go forth to fight the battles of the 
cross.* 

The crusaders are sometimes represented as influenced by 
no other motive than the desire of rescuing the Holy Land 
from the infidel. This, however, is not the fact. For three 
centuries Jerusalem had been in the power of the Caliphs, 
without any effort having been made by the Christians to 
wrest it from their hands : it was the ferocity of the Turks 
which filled Europe with alarm and indignation, f The spirit 
of the crusades abated when the Syrian Christians ceased to 
be so grievously oppressed. The ardor wherewith all Europe 
engaged in the struggle was owing to the picture of suffering 
presented to them by the hermit and the Pontiff. Doubtless 
their enthusiasm was increased by the consideration that the 
scenes of those sufferings had been hallowed by the presence, 
miracles, and sufferings of Christ : but this does not detract 
from the lawfulness of the war as undertaken for the relief of 
their fellow-Christians. " They were armed," as Michaud re- 
marks, " in behalf of the wretched and the oppressed. They 
went forward to defend a religion which awakened their sym- 
pathies for distant sufferers, and caused them to discover bro- 
thers in the inhabitants of countries unknown to them."{ 

I know not whether it will be denied that it was lawful for 
the nations of Europe to make war upon the Turks in conse- 
quence of the outrages committed on European pilgrims, and 
the constant oppression of the Christians of Palestine. At this 
day nations resent the affronts and injuries offered by foreign 
powers to individual citizens sojourning in distant countries. 
Governments also connive at the raising of volunteers to aid 
the oppressed in asserting their rights, and sometimes openly 
join in the struggle. In many cases there seems to be no other 
means of rescuing the people from despotism, than the inter- 
vention of a foreign power, demanding that the citizens be go- 
verned on principles of humanity and justice. If it be ever 
lawful for foreigners to interpose, it was surely so when fierce 
barbarians trampled under foot every natural right, delivered 

* Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. ii., p. 177. 
f Robertson's View of the State of Europe, sect. 1. 
% Histoire des Croisades, 1. iv., p. 512. 



CRUSADES. 



395 



the daughters of Christians to dishonor, forced their sons to 
apostatize, and butchered the parents. 

The meek and suffering spirit which the Christian religion 
breathes, does not deprive men of the rights of humanity, or 
take away from nations the power to make just war. Indi- 
viduals are taught to respect public authority, even when 
abused for purposes of persecution : but nations can appeal 
on the battle-field to the God of hosts, to vindicate justice and 
right. 

The actual government of Palestine had not prescription in 
its favor. The Turks were invaders, who, a short time before, 
had seized on the reins of power : and the Egyptians, when 
for a time successful, had not recovered pacific and secure pos- 
session. There was nothing in the title of the rulers of Syria, 
to form a bar against the interference of the European powers, 
who were anxious to rescue their Eastern brethren. 

The crusades were undertaken in the name of humanity, as 
well as of religion, and the destruction of the infidel was 
vowed, not as an act in itself acceptable, but as a necessary 
means for vindicating the oppressed. The shedding of human 
blood is to be abhorred : yet when it becomes necessary to 
maintain order, and terminate outrage, God Himself has given 
it His sanction. Hence we must consider the appeal of Urban 
II. to the Christian people as an exhortation to a just war, and 
a wise effort on his part to give a proper direction to the war- 
like propensity of the age, by pointing to a legitimate object 
what for the most part manifested itself in acts of lawless 
violence : " Be ye armed," he cried, " dearly beloved, with the 
zeal of God : let each gird his sword upon his thigh most 
powerfully. Be ye ready, and be ye valiant : for it is better 
for us to die in war, than to see the evils of the people and of 
the holy places. Go forth, and the Lord will be with you, and 
turn again the enemies of the faith, and of the Christian name, 
the arms which you have criminally stained with the blood of 
one another."* This language may seem unbecoming the re- 
presentative of the Prince of Peace : but if the relation of the 
Pope to society at that period be considered, he will be seen 
to have only spoken as the necessity of the case required. As 
the actual head of the confederacy of Christian nations, the 



Apud Baron., an. 1095. 



396 



CRUSADES. 



only one who could effectually rouse them to a general effort, 
he raised his voice in behalf of justice and humanity. To 
exhort to just war was more humane than to suffer in silence 
the continuance of the outrages of which the Syrian Chris- 
tians were the victims. 

Mills admits that " if Europe had armed itself for the pur- 
pose of succoring the Grecian emperor, the rendering of such 
assistance would have been a moral action, for the Sarace- 
nian march of hostility would not have stopped with the sub- 
jugation of Constantinople, and it is incumbent on us to pre- 
vent a danger as well as to repel one."* This was the case 
precisely. Michael Ducas and Alexius Comnenus had suc- 
cessively applied for aid to preserve the seat of empire, which 
was threatened by the Turks. The Pope acted at their soli- 
citation ; and his action, thus fully justified by the law of 
nations, did not cease to be just, because it was at the same 
time influenced by the prayers of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, 
and of the Oriental Christians, and by the sublime considera- 
tion of the holiness of the place that was to be rescued from 
the grasp of the unbeliever. Mills himself already stated, 
that "in some minds political considerations had weight, and 
Europe was regarded as the ally of Constantinople. "f The 
advantages derived to the emperor from the first efforts of the 
crusaders are acknowledged by Hallam, who does not con- 
ceive, as Mills, that the danger had passed away before relief 
was afforded. " In this state of jeopardy," he observes, when 
describing the advances of the Turks, "the Greek empire 
looked for aid from the nations of the West, and received it 
in fuller measure than was expected, or perhaps desired. The 
deliverance of Constantinople was indeed a very secondary 
object with the crusaders. But it was necessarily included in 
their scheme of operations, which, though they all tended to 
the recover} 7 of Jerusalem, must commence with the first 
enemies that lay on their line of march. The Turks were 
entirely defeated ; their capital of Nice restored to the em- 
pire. As the Franks passed onward, the emperor Alexius 
Comnenus trod on their footsteps, and secured to himself the 
fruits for which their enthusiasm disdained to wait. He re- 
gained possession of the strong places on the iEgean shores, 



History of the Crusades, ch. xviii., p. 243. f Ibid., ch. ii., p. 24. 



CRUSADES. 



397 



of the defiles of Bithynia, and of the entire coast of Asia 
Minor, both on the Euxine and Mediterranean seas, which the 
Turkish armies, composed of cavalry, and unused to regular 
warfare, could not recover. So much must undoubtedly be 
ascribed to the first crusade."* 

Alexius, on the arrival of the crusaders, entered into an 
express league with them, and bound himself to unite his 
forces with theirs, and supply them with provisions, and aid 
them in the assault on Jerusalem, whilst, on their part, they 
promised to deliver into his hands, or receive of him as fiefs 
the cities of the empire which they might retake from the in- 
fidels, f This confirms the fact that they acted originally 'as 
his allies. After the establishment of the kingdom of Jeru- 
salem, it was regarded as a colony which the Western princes 
felt bound to protect.J The king earnestly and repeatedly 
sought the support of his European brethren, and after the 
overthrow of the throne, the Eastern Christians cried out 
piteously for aid. If at any time they seemed indifferent, or 
averse to the interference of their European brethren, it was 
when despair induced them to bear their chains without a 
murmur, rather than provoke the tyrant to rivet them anew. 
Thus the third crusade proclaimed by Celestine III. having 
failed, they seemed unwilling to share in the responsibility of 
another effort made by the same Pontiff in the ninetieth year 
of his age. Notwithstanding this reluctance, the European 
powers felt that they had a right to protect the colony, as the 
general interests of Christendom were at stake. 

It is impossible not to perceive that the crusades were, from 
the commencement, and still more in the progress, defensive 
wars, directed to repel Turkish aggression, and preserve the 
nations of Europe from the Mahommedan yoke. The Moors 
from Africa, imbued with Mahommedan superstition, were 
already masters of Spain : the Saracens had reduced under 
their power the southern provinces of Italy, and they frequent- 
ly hovered over its coast, spreading desolation wherever they 
lighted : the Turks, fresh in the career of conquest, placed no 
bounds to their ambition: they "became masters of the 
Asiatic cities and fortified passes ; nor did there seem any ob- 

* Middle Ages, vol. 1, ch. vi., p. 519. 

f Histoire des Croisades, 1. ii., p. 194. % Ibidem, I. vi., p. 170. Note, 

25 



398 



CRUSADES. 



stacle to their invasion of Europe."* The struggle between 
them and the Christian forces, which continued for ages with 
various success, proves that their power was in the highest 
degree formidable. It was, then, a master-stroke of policy to 
carry the war into their own territory, and to dispute with 
them the possession of their actual dominions, lest, proceeding 
in their course, they should obtain an easy victory over each 
European potentate, singly battling for his own safety. The 
union of all the Christian powers, which was the only means 
of effectual resistance, was wisely devised by Urban II. His 
words prove that this plea for the crusades is no ingenious 
after-thought, no invention of modern apologists : " We ad- 
monish you," said he, " and in the Lord we exhort you, and 
enjoin on you, for the remission of your sins, to sympathize 
with our afflicted and suffering brethren, the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem and its vicinity, coheirs with us of the heavenly 
kingdom (for we are all members, one of another), and co- 
heirs of Christ, and to restrain by just coercion the insolence 
of the infidels, who aim at subjecting to their power, king- 
doms, principalities, and powers, and to oppose with all your 
might their efforts to cancel from the earth the Christian 
name."f The same argument was advanced by Innocent III. 
to rouse the Christian powers to the fifth crusade. He repre- 
sents the Mussulmen as glorying in their success : " What re- 
mains for us," say they, " but to drive away those whom you 
have left in Syria, and to penetrate to the far West, and can- 
cel for ever your name and memory from among nations ? "{ 
If the crusaders showed but little sense of this danger, it only 
proves the more generous sentiments by which they were in- 
fluenced : but the danger was not imaginary, nor even remote, 
as the intelligent Pontiffs well perceived. 

The manifest lawfulness of the crusades may be fairly in- 
ferred from the approbation which they received from the 
most holy men, and from the miracles which were wrought by 
some who proclaimed them. The eminent sanctity of Ber- 
nard, the famous Abbot of Clairvaux, who was an active pro- 
moter of the second crusade, is acknowledged, even by many 
Protestants. In the year 1145, Eugene III, having received 

* Hallam, Middle Ages, ch. vi., p. 519. f Apud Baron., an. 1095, p. 663. 
J Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. x., p. 81. 



CRUSADES. 



399 



the afflicting intelligence that Edessa had fallen into the hands 
of the Saracen, and that Antioch and Jerusalem were in dan- 
ger, forgetful of his own perils and necessities, turned all his 
attention to the succor of the Christian king of Jerusalem. 
Louis VII. resolved to second his pious desires, with whom 
Conrad, emperor of Germany, united his forces. In a nume- 
rous Council held at Chartres, Bernard was chosen as leader, 
who, however, declined this office as unsuited to his religious 
state. The holy abbot, nevertheless, fervently exhorted the 
faithful to enlist under the sacred banner ; and the ancient 
historian of his life assures us, that the Lord confirmed his 
preaching by the signs that followed it, which were so nume- 
rous that they could not be recorded in detail.* The faithful, 
fully persuaded that the undertaking was of God, rallied under 
the standard of the cross, leaving the cities and towns almost 
deserted, as Bernard himself testifies.f The failure of an en- 
terprise thus divinely sanctioned, is among the instances of 
the mysterious counsels of God. The perfidy of the Greek 
emperor and the temerity of the crusaders were the imme- 
diate causes of defeat, which may also be ascribed to the un- 
worthiness and sins of the princes and people. St. Bernard 
asks : How does human temerity dare censure what it can- 
not comprehend ? "J 

The idea of encouraging the crusades by indulgences has 
afforded abundant matter of censure. These, however, were 
intended to reward the generous devotedness with which the 
crusaders undertook a long and toilsome journey, and exposed 
their lives in a just war connected with religion. The con- 
dition of true penance was always prescribed in order to gain 
them, and, in fact, multitudes of most abandoned sinners were 
won to Christ by the assurance of unqualified forgiveness to 
the penitent crusader. The terms of the concession were not 
to be mistaken : " Trusting to the mercy of God, and authority 
of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, we remit the heaviest 
penances for sins to such faithful Christians as shall take arms 
against them (the Turks), and take on themselves the labor 
of this journey. Whosoever shall depart from life in senti- 
ments of true penance, shall doubtless receive the pardon of 
sins and an eternal reward." " Whosoever shall undertake 

* Vita S. Bernardi, 1. iii., c. iv. f Ep. ccxlvi. \ De Consider at., 1. ii. 



400 



CRUSADES. 



the journey to liberate Jerusalem, through pure devotion, not 
for glory, or hire, shall be considered as having fulfilled all 
his penance."* Contrition of heart, with the humble confes- 
sion of sin, is invariably required in the Bulls of Eugene III., 
Gregory VIII., Innocent III., and the other Pontiffs. Guibert 
tells us that up to that time the whole kingdom of the French 
was convulsed by internal strife : pillaging and assassination 
were common, and incendiaries abounded ; but that on the 
proclaiming of the crusade, there was an extraordinary and 
general change : dissensions were suddenly healed, and all 
the public calamities ceased. f Orderic Vitalis states that 
" thieves, and marauders, and other like sinners, under the in- 
fluence of the Holy Ghost, rose from the depth of their ini- 
quity, and engaged in the crusade with a view to atone for 
their sins."J The preaching of the fifth crusade by Foulques 
de Neuilly was attended with extraordinary conversions, and 
abundant fruits of piety, besides the enthusiasm which it en- 
kindled. To his contemporaries he appeared as another Paul 
raised up by God for the conversion of sinners, of whom he 
considered himself the greatest. Of the first five crusades 
Michaud says, that "during them religion and evangelical 
morality resumed their ascendancy, aid scattered their bless- 
ings around : at the voice of the holy orators, Christians em- 
braced penance, and reformed their lives : all political storms 
were quelled at the mere mention of Jerusalem, and the West 
continued in profound peace."§ As even Mills acknowledges, 
the crusaders prepared themselves for death, when about to 
set out on their journey : " Throughout the crusades, most 
persons, considering the difficulty of the journey, and the pe- 
rils of war, performed those acts which men on the point of 
death observed ; such as settling their family affairs, and mak- 
ing restitutions to the Church or private persons."|| In point- 
ing to the crusade as a means of expiating sin, the Pope con- 
sidered the toils of the journey and the exposure of life in just 
war, which, offered up to God in a penitential spirit, might, in 
some measure, atone for past excesses. "Redeem," he said, 



* Canon Cone, Clarom. IT. f Guibert Abb., 1. i.,c. vii. 

| Hist. Eccles., recueil des Histor. norm par Duchesne. 

§ Histoire des Croisades, 1. xiii., p. 102. 

jji History of the Crusades, ch. in., p. 37, Note. 



CRUSADES. 



401 



" by this act, well pleasing before God, theft, arson, plunder, 
homicide, and other crimes, the doers of which shall not pos- 
sess the kingdom of God, that these works of piety and the 
intercession of the saints may specially obtain for you the 
pardon of the sins by which you have provoked the Lord to 
anger." There was no pardon for the impenitent ; but the 
contrite of heart could not give a greater proof of their sor- 
row, than to expose their lives for their brethren in Christ, and 
willingly to endure all the toil and want incidental to the 
warfare. No penance which could be inflicted, or assumed, 
could be compared with constant exposure to a scorching sun, 
or with thirst and hunger, such as they endured. In their 
travels through Bulgaria, they suffered extreme want ; and the 
thirst which they experienced elsewhere was intolerable to 
the strongest soldiers, and carried off five hundred in one day.* 
Daring the siege of Antioch, hunger forced them to eat weeds, 
*and briars, dogs, reptiles, and every unclean animal.f 

Alms given towards defraying the expenses of the crusades 
were accepted in lieu of actual service from such as could 
not enter on the journey; Frederick Barbarossa, in 1189, hav- 
ing obtained the Pope's consent to this commutation.J Inno- 
cent III. offered indulgences not only to the crusaders, but to 
all who contributed to equip and maintain them, and directed 
boxes to be placed in the churches, in which the faithful 
might deposit their alms.§ It is unfair to represent this mode 
of proceeding as a sale of indulgences, since these were not 
given for a stipulated sum of money to be paid to any indi- 
vidual for his own use, but they were offered to all who would 
contribute according to their ability and devotion to a public 
undertaking, connected with the interests of religion and the 
independence of the Christian nations. If it was laudable to 
contribute to this object, it was certainly allowable to stimu- 
late the generous charity of the faithful by offering to them a 
release from penitential observances, and the temporal pun- 
ishment of sin. God Himself encourages alms-giving, by 
promises of abundant rewards in this life and in the next ; and 
the Church imitated the divine economy in dispensing her 
spiritual treasures to such of her children as might freely 



* Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. ii., p, 237. f Ibidem, p. 281. 
| Ibidem, 1. vii., p. 374. § Ibidem,!, x., p. 83. 



402 



CRUSADES. 



offer a portion of their worldly substance in support of the 
Christian enterprise. An instance of a similar concession 
occurred eighty years previously, when Gelasius II. offered a 
remission of penance, at the discretion of the bishops, to such 
as would contribute to the rebuilding of the church of Sara- 
gossa, which the Saracens had destroyed, and to the support 
of the clergy of that city. 

The results of the crusades not being as splendid as the 
vast number of crusaders and their enthusiasm might lead us 
to expect, many who judge from the issue of things, loudly 
decry them : yet their effects were by no means inconsider- 
able. The crusaders effectually checked the Mahommedan 
power ; established and maintained, during almost a century, 
the kingdom of Jerusalem ; and for another century retained 
the dominion of some places in Syria. When the disadvan- 
tages under which these wars were undertaken are considered, 
their partial success will be a matter of wonder. A crusade 
was an army of volunteers, directed by no common leader, 
and commanded by officers accustomed to feudal domination. 
They fought on a strange territory, with no knowledge of the 
places, and in the midst of enemies, numerous, thoroughly 
acquainted with the places, and of desperate resolution. They 
were dependent on chance for the necessary provisions, and 
they often suffered intensely from hunger, thirst, and every 
natural want. Nevertheless, the first crusade was eminently 
successful. Nice, Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem, succes- 
sively yielded to the Christian arms. " The first result of this 
crusade," says Michaud, "was to fill the Mussulman, nations 
with terror, and put it out of their power for a long time to 
make any attack on the West. Through the victories of the 
crusaders, the Greek empire extended its borders ; and Con- 
stantinople, which was for the Saracens the high road to the 
West, was safe from their attacks. In this distant expedition 
Europe lost the flower of her population, but she was not, 
like Asia, the theatre of a bloody and disastrous war."* 
" When we consider that this weak kingdom, (Jerusalem,) 
encompassed by enemies, stood for eighty-eight years, we 
have less reason to be astonished at its fall, than at its dura- 
tion for so long a period."f " On all occasions in which 



* Histoire des Croisades, 1. iv., p. 516. f Ibidem, 1. vii., p. 351. 



CRUSADES. 



403 



bravery alone was wanting, nothing is found comparable with 
the exploits of the crusaders. When reduced to a small 
number of fighting men, they were not less successful than 
when their forces were innumerable. Forty thousand cru- 
saders took possession of Jerusalem, garrisoned by sixty 
thousand Saracens. Scarcely twenty thousand remained 
when they had to engage with all the forces of the East in 
the plains of Ascalon."* 

The constancy with which the Popes pursued their favorite 
object, the recovery of the Holy Land from the infidel, shows 
the strength of the religious principle by which they were 
actuated. The disasters of Louis VII. and of the emperor 
Conrad, did not deter Frederick Barbarossa, Richard Coeur de 
Lion, and Philip Augustus of France, from entering on the 
same career of danger, at the bidding of the Pontiff. " Gre- 
gory VIII. not only endeavored to deprecate the wrath of 
Heaven, by obtaining fasting and prayer throughout Christen- 
dom, but issued a bull for a new crusade, with the usual 
privileges to the croises. Gregory went to Pisa, and healed 
the animosities between that city and Genoa, knowing well 
the importance of the commercial states of Italy to the Chris- 
tians in the holy wars."f Celestine III. again sounded the 
sacred trumpet, and summoned the volunteers of Christ to the 
relief of Palestine. Innocent III. used all the influence of his 
station to rouse the princes of Europe to undertake the fifth 
crusade, which, contrary to his intentions and wishes, resulted 
in the taking of Constantinople, which became the seat of 
Latin rule thenceforward for fifty-seven years. With the 
applause of the fourth Council of Lateran, the same great Pon- 
tiff set a sixth crusade on foot, and contributed largely from 
his treasury to its expenses. His plate and golden vessels 
were melted by his orders, to be employed for this purpose, in 
place of which, wooden or earthen vessels were used at his 
table. " As germs of division subsisted between several States 
of Europe, which might prevent the success of the holy war, 
the Pope sent in every direction his legates as angels of 
peace, to induce reconciliation. He himself repaired to Tus- 
cany to terminate the dissensions of the Pisans and Genoese : 
his exhortations reunited all hearts ; at his voice the most 



* Michaud, 1. iv., p. 509. f Mills, History of the Crusades, ck. xi., p. 148. 



404 



CRUSADES 



implacable enemies promised to consign to oblivion all their 
disputes, that they might go and fight against the Sara- 
cens." * 

To the incessant vigilance of the Popes against the progress 
of the Turkish power, the European nations are deeply in- 
debted for their independence. When, in 1259, Mogul hordes 
penetrated into Poland and Hungary, and spread terror every- 
where, Alexander IV. addressed the princes and prelates of 
Europe, exhorting them to repel the invaders. At his sug- 
gestion, prayers, processions and fasts were everywhere em- 
ployed to avert the wrath of Heaven. On that occasion, the 
petition, " Lord, deliver us from the invasion of the Tartars," 
was added to the Litanies. Urban IV. walked in his foot- 
steps. After Ptolemais had fallen into the hands of the enemy, 
and the last hopes of the Eastern Christians had vanished, 
Boniface VIII. raised his voice in their behalf. Clement V. 
endeavored to resuscitate the extinct spirit of the crusades. 
John XXII. pleaded in behalf of the suffering Christians of 
Armenia. Benedict XL, in conjunction with the republic of 
Venice and the king of Cyprus, sent troops to Smyrna ; and 
Urban V. proclaimed a new crusade, which resulted in the 
taking of Alexandria. In the day of their distress, the empe- 
rors of Constantinople had no surer refuge than the Pontiff, 
who employed all his influence to obtain succor for the Greeks, 
notwithstanding the repeated instances of their bad faith. 
Eugenius IV. appealed, in an eloquent strain, to the princes 
of Europe, in behalf of the imperial city, when threatened by 
the Turks ; but the hour was come in w r hich her faithlessness 
should receive retribution. The prodigies of valor of Hunni- 
ades and of Ladislas at Warna, could not prevent the victo- 
rious Ottoman entering Constantinople in triumph. When his 
hosts advanced to Belgrade, and all Europe trembled at their 
approach, Calixtus III. sought to rouse all to the rescue, in- 
viting the faithful to implore help for their Hungarian breth- 
ren, by the repetition of the angelic salutation, thrice each 
day, at the sound of the bell. The victory, which appeared 
miraculous, may well be ascribed to these prayers, no less 
than to the piety of St. John Capistran, or the valor of Hun- 
niades, who share its praise. 

* Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. xii., p. 403. 



CRUSADES. 



405 



The efforts of Pius II. against the Turks, before and after 
his elevation to the pontificate, deserve the admiration and 
gratitude of Christian Europe. At his earnest solicitation, an 
assembly of the representatives of the various States was held 
at Mantua, in which he presided, and in energetic language 
described the ravages of the enemy in Bosnia and Greece, and 
their advances, like a spreading flame, on Italy, Germany, and 
all Europe. He declared that he would not leave Mantua 
until he received from all the princes and States, pledges of 
their devotedness to the common cause ; adding, that if he 
were forsaken by the Christian powers, he would advance 
alone to the combat, and die in defending the independence 
of Europe and the Church. " The language of Pius II.," says 
Michaud, "was full of religion, and his religion full of patriot- 
ism. When Demosthenes and the Greek orators mounted the 
rostrum to urge their fellow-citizens to defend the liberty of 
Greece against the aggressions of Philip, or the invasions of 
the great king, they doubtless spoke more eloquently: but 
they were not inspired by higher interests, or more exalted 
motives."* The frontiers of Illyricum were soon laid waste 
by the enemy : the isles of the Archipelago and Ionian sea 
submitted to his power : and the dangers of Italy and all 
Europe became daily more imminent. Pius, although bending 
under the weight of years, resolved to go at the head of the 
Christian army, and, like Moses, to lift his hands in prayer 
for the people of God in the hour of conflict. " What war," 
he cried, " was ever more just and necessary '? The Turks 
attack all that is dear to us, all that Christians hold sacred. 
As men, can you be without sympathy for your fellow- 
mortals? As Christians, religion commands you to relieve 
your brethren. If you are unmoved by the calamities of 
others, take compassion on yourselves. You imagine that you 
are safe, because you are far from danger : to-morrow, the 
sword may be raised over your own heads. If you neglect 
to succor those w T ho stand before you exposed to the enemy, 
those who are in your rear may abandon you in the struggle. "f 
The heroic Pontiff, in June, 1464, left his capital for Ancona, 
on his way to the scene of danger ; but a fever, which the 
fatigues of the journey aggravated, soon brought him to the 



* Histoire des Croisades, 1. xx., p. 373. f Ibidem, p. 378. 



406 



CRUSADES. 



end of his earthly career, in that city. His last words were 
an earnest exhortation to the Cardinals to pursue the work 
for which he had sacrificed his life. Paul II. endeavored in 
vain to enkindle the zeal of Christian princes for the enter- 
prise, and gave to the brave Scanderberg a sword, with pecu- 
niary aid. Sixtus IV. displayed like zeal, with somewhat 
greater success, having sent a small fleet, in company with 
the Venetian and Neapolitan navy, to the coasts of Ionia and 
Pamphylia, in order to compel Mahomet II. to retire from 
Europe, to the defence of his own possessions. When Otranto 
had fallen beneath the Ottoman arms, the Pontiff assembled 
around him the ambassadors of all the Christian powers, and 
concerted with them measures of prompt defence for the other 
cities of Italy and Europe. Even Alexander VI. earnestly 
solicited the princes to unite in repelling the common enemies 
of the Christian faith. A crusade was decreed in the fifth 
Council of Lateran, commenced by Julius II., and terminated 
under Leo X. Soliman took Belgrade in 1521, the year of 
Leo's death ; and, a short time afterwards, the Isle of Rhodes, 
which was defended in vain with astonishing valor by the 
knights of St. John. Bude fell in 1523, after the direful battle 
of Mohas. 

When Clement VII. was a prisoner in the castle of St. An- 
gel o, and the troops of Charles V. occupied his capital, he did 
not cease to interest himself for the safety of Europe from the 
attacks of the Turk. " From the prison in which the emperor 
detained him," Michaud observes, " Clement VII. watched for 
the defence of Christian Europe : his legates journeyed to Hun- 
gary, to exhort the Hungarians to fight for God and their coun- 
try. . . It may not be useless to observe, that most of the prede- 
cessors of Clement, as well as he, had employed great diligence 
to discover the plans of the infidels. Thus the heads of the 
Church did not limit their efforts to the rousing of Christians 
to defend themselves on their own territory, but, like vigilant 
sentinels, they kept their eyes incessantly fixed on the enemies 
of Christianity, to warn Europe of the dangers by which it 
was menaced."! " When the emperor had loosed the chains 
o. C erne VIL, the holy Pontiff consigned to oblivion the out- 
rages which he had suffered, and occupied himself with the 



* Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. xx., p. 378. f Ibidem, p. 464. 



CRUSADES. 



407 



safety of the German empire, which was about to be attacked 
by the Turks. In the diets of Augsburg and Spire, the legate 
of the Pope endeavored, in the name of religion, to awake the 
ardor of the Germans for their own defence."* Whilst Luther 
paradoxically denounced opposition to the Turks as resistance 
to the divine will, Clement continued to provide for the safety 
of the Christian commonwealth. When the army of the Sul- 
tan was at the gates of Vienna, seeing no human hope re- 
maining, he appealed, not in vain, to the God of hosts. Fa- 
maugusta and Nicosia, in the isle of Cyprus, subsequently fell 
into the power of the Turks, and the butchery of their brave 
defenders followed the capture. Pius V. had succeeded in 
forming a league with the republic of Venice, and with Philip 
II. of Spain, to aid the island : but the fleet reached its desti- 
nation after the triumph of the Turk. To this fleet, however, 
of which the pontifical navy formed a considerable portion, 
the glory was reserved of giving a fatal blow to Turkish ag- 
gression. In the Gulf of Lepanto, where Augustus and An- 
tony had contended for the empire of Rome, the naval battle 
was fought between the Christians and the Turks. The flag 
of St. Peter, which John of Austria, the High Admiral of the 
fleet, had received from the hands of Pius V., floated aloft, and 
was hailed by joyous shouts by the Christian combatants, who 
cast themselves on their knees to implore the aid of Heaven, 
ere they raised their arms to engage in battle. Two hundred 
Turkish vessels, captured, burnt or sunk, were the result of a 
naval contest,' such as the world had never before witnessed, 
and which virtually decided the great struggle between the 
Mahommedan and Christian powers. The efforts of Saint Pius, 
and perhaps still more his prayers, obtained this victory. This 
single action, which closed his earthly career, ought, in the 
judgment of Voltaire, to render his memory sacred. f 

In the decline of the seventeenth century, Dalmatia and 
Candia were attacked, and Hungary, Moravia, and Austria 
were invaded by the Turks. The voice of Alexander VII. was 
raised to urge the Christian princes to unite in repelling them. 
The emperor Leopold fled from his capital in dismay. The 
Pope sent soldiers and money to his aid, and shared with the 

* Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. xx., p. 464. 
| Essai sur THistoire Generale, t. iv., ch. clvi. 



/ 



408 CRUSADES. 

king of France, and other confederates, the glory of a decisive 
victory obtained on the plains of St. Gothard. When Candia 
had fallen under the Turkish yoke, the Pontiff again addressed 
the Christian States, and especially the heroic king of Poland, 
John Sobieski, exhorting them to check the insolence of the 
triumphant foe. Vienna was soon rescued from the 300,000 
Mussulmen that surrounded it, by a valiant though compara- 
tively small host, on the memorable 13th September, 1683. 
The Venetian republic concurred with the Pontiff, and the 
banners of St. Peter and St. Mark waved in triumph on the 
ramparts of Coron. Navarino, Patras, Napoli de Romagna, Co- 
rinth, Athens, and throughout the Archipelago. Clement XL, 
in 1716, made great contributions in money, and sent troops to 
aid the Christians in Hungary, who were assailed by Achmet 
III., and exhorted the Christian States to do in like manner. 
The victory of Prince Eugene at Peter- Waradin, and the re- 
covery of Belgrade, filled the Pontiff with joy for the success 
of the Christian arms, to which he himself had so effectually 
contributed. 

I have rapidly reviewed the efforts made by the Popes dur- 
ing six centuries for the relief of the Eastern Christians, and 
for the safety of the European nations, that the reader might 
form a just idea of the motives which actuated them, and of 
the services which they rendered to Christendom. Their views 
were evidently more enlarged than those of secular princes, 
and their sympathy for the suffering Christians of the East was 
not less admirable than their vigilance to preserve the indepen- 
dence of Europe. Their policy was of no narrow, selfish kind. 
With scrupulous fidelity they employed in those just enter- 
prises whatever the charity of the faithful committed to their 
dispensation, to which they added much from their own re- 
sources.* From those wars they sought no augmentation of 
territory : leaving to the crusaders the spoils and honors of 
war, and the conquered country. They often sought to gain 
the infidels to the faith by the assurance that no sacrifice of 
temporal interests was desired by them : " We seek not your 
kingdom ; but yourselves," said Gregory XI. to the caliph of 
Bagdad, and to the sovereigns of Cairo and Damascus : " We 
do not wish to lessen your honors, or power : our most earnest 

* See letter of Honorius III , apud Michaud, vol. iii., Pieces justificatives» 



CRUSADES. 



409 



desire is to raise you above this world, and to ensure your hap- 
piness here and hereafter/'* With these elevated views they 
continued their endeavors in the cause of humanity and reli- 
gion, and incessantly opposed Turkish aggression. The pa- 
pacy in those ages, as has been well observed, " was constantly 
endeavoring to advance the borders of the Christian world — 
to reclaim the heathen barbarism of the north of Europe — or 
to repel the dangerous aggressions of Mahommedanism." j 

The crusades against the Moors of Spain sprang from the 
same principles as the Eastern crusades, and to them, as well 
as to the chivalry of the religious orders, Spain owes her li- 
berty. " The celebrated victory of Tolosa, obtained over 
the Moors, was the fruit of a crusade published throughout 
Europe, and especially in France, by order of the Sovereign 
Pontiff. The expeditions beyond the seas were useful to the 
Spaniards, inasmuch as they kept within their own territory 
the Saracens of Egypt and Syria, who might otherwise have 
joined those of the African coast. The kingdom of Portugal 
was conquered and founded by the crusaders. The crusades 
gave rise to the orders of chivalry, which were formed in 
Spain, in imitation of those of Palestine, without whose aid the 
nation could not have conquered the Moors." J 

I shall not dwell on the advantages to commerce, civiliza- 
tion, literature and freedom, which were derived from the cru- 
sades, as Robertson fully acknowledges.^ Although the all- 
absorbing thought of the Pontiffs was to rescue the suffering 
Christians and free the Holy Land, they were never inattentive 
to the social advantages which might flow from these enter- 
prises. During them, navigation greatly advanced, and the 
commercial republics of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, rose to great 
wealth and power. The barriers which separated the Eu- 
ropean nations, which had hitherto retained much of the 
estrangement from social intercourse characteristic of barba- 
rous tribes, were broken down ; society was formed on a vast 
scale, on the great principles of a common faith and common 
interests, and the East and the West were bound together by 

* Raynaldi, Annales Eccles., an. 1233. 

f London Quarterly, for February, 1836. 

| Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. xxii., p. 222. 

^ Survey of the State of Europe, sect. 1. 



410 



CRUSADES. 



hallowed ties. The serfs felt themselves made freed-men of 
the cross ; cities sprang up in every direction, with municipal 
privileges bestowed by the feudal lords, in consideration of 
largesses made for the holy war ; and their inhabitants, during 
the long absence of the lords, acquired the habits and sense of 
freedom. The learned exiles from Greece and the manuscripts 
of the East transferred to Europe, laid the foundation of a new 
era in literature, which the enlightened Pope, Nicholas V., la- 
bored to accelerate.* The praise of these results must neces- 
sarily be given to the Popes, as authors of the enterprise. 

* See Michaud, Histoire des Croisades, 1. xxii. 



CHAPTER YIIL 



COERCION. 

§ 1. Pagans and Jews. 

It is an axiom universally admitted, that the worship of God 
must be voluntary, in order to be acceptable. Liberty of con- 
science was claimed by Tertullian for the Christians, as a natu- 
ral and indefeasible right, grounded on the very nature of reli- 
gion : " It is," said he, " man's right and natural privilege, that 
each one should worship what he thinks proper : nor can the 
religion of another injure or profit him. Neither is it a part of 
religion to compel its adoption, since this should be spontane- 
ous, not forced, as even sacrifices are asked only of the cheer- 
ful giver."* The missionaries of Gregory to England instruct- 
ed Ethelbert, the Saxon king, to abstain from all compulsion, 
and limit his zeal to the inducing of his subjects, by persuasion, 
to follow his example in embracing Christianity. The fourth 
Council of Toledo forbade violence to be offered to any one 
with a view to force the profession of the faith and the recep- 
tion of baptism.f Even amidst the military expeditions which 
were undertaken in the middle ages to extend civilization and 
religion over the northern provinces of Europe, Innocent IV. 
declared that the discipline of the Church does not allow com- 
pulsion to be used for the propagation of the faith. We have 
already offered the reader an explanation of the principles on 
which the crusades in Prussia, and other countries, were con- 
ducted, which, although apparently directed to spread the 
faith by military terror, were in reality designed to put an end 
to unnatural enormities, and extend civilization, whilst they 
protected the preachers of the Gospel, and converts, from mo- 
lestation on the part of unbelievers. The profession of Chris- 



* Ad Scapulam, c. ii. 



f Can. lvii. 



412 



COERCION. 



tianity was at all times to be the free act of those who were 
convinced of its divine character. 

Liberty of conscience was especially maintained by the 
Popes in regard to the Jews, whom they would by no means 
allow to be coerced to the reception of baptism. Numerous 
facts place this beyond contradiction. It was so w T ell known 
to the Jews themselves, that it was not unusual for them to 
have recourse to the Pope, when they felt aggrieved by the 
acts of inferior prelates. The Bishop of Terracina was de- 
nounced by Joseph, a Jew, to Gregory the Great, for having 
taken possession of a synagogue, under the pretext of giving 
to its members another place of worship, which he was now 
seeking to take from them. The Pontiff directed redress to be 
given, observing that unbelievers are to be drawn to the faith 
by meekness, kindness and persuasion, not to be forced by 
threats and penalties.* When a converted Jew had erected 
a crucifix and an image of the Blessed Virgin in a synagogue 
at Cagliari, the Pope, on complaint being lodged of the injus- 
tice thereby done to its owners, ordered the images to be re- 
verently removed, and the house left to its original purpose. 
He advised moderation to be observed towards the Jews, that 
they might freely hearken to the ministers of the Gospel, ob- 
serving, that they must not be forced against their will, since 
it is written : " I will freely sacrifice to Thee."f Some Italian 
Jews, who frequented the port of Marseilles, having informed 
him that their brethren were constrained to receive baptism 
in that city, he wrote to Virgil, Metropolitan of Aries, and to 
Theodore, Bishop of Marseilles, praising their good intentions, 
but expressing his fears that the results would be injurious, 
and directing them to instruct and prepare them that their 
conversion might be sincere. J Innocent III., in 1199, in con- 
formity with the examples of his predecessors, took the Jews 
under the special protection of the Holy See, forbidding any 
violence to be offered them, to force them to receive baptism, 
or their property to be taken, or their usages to be interrupted. 

When, in 1236, the crusaders in France had committed va- 
rious outrages on their persons and property, the Jews appeal- 
ed to the humanity and justice of Gregory IX., who immedi- 

* L. i., ep. 3, 4. f Ps. liii. 8., apud Greg., 1. vii., ep. 5, ind. 2. 
J L. i., ep. 45. 



COERCION. 



413 



ately wrote to the Archbishop of Bordeaux, and other French 
prelates, reminding them that the soldiers of the cross should 
prepare themselves for battle in the fear of God, by the exer- 
cise of charity. He added, that no one should be forced to 
receive baptism, since man, having fallen from innocence by 
his free will, must co-operate freely with grace, in order to rise 
again. The Council of Tours, in accordance with these in- 
structions, forbade any one to offer violence to the Jews, ob- 
serving that the Church desires not the death, but the salva- 
tion of those that err. Soon afterwards a similar appeal was 
made by the German Jews, who had also suffered. Innocent 
IV., accordingly, addressed the bishops, and directed them to 
obtain for the Jews compensation for the outrages committed 
against them. John XXII. stood forward as their protector in 
the year 1320, when sectaries called shepherds renewed like 
scenes of violence in Languedoc and other French provinces ; 
and Clement VI., under penalty of anathema, forbade them to 
be slain or beaten. 

Rome has always been the asylum and home of this op- 
pressed people, as Voltaire himself acknowledges ; and Avig- 
non, because it was for a long time the residence of the Popes, 
shares with the eternal city this honorable distinction.* The 
restrictions to which they have been subjected, even in Rome, 
in being confined to a certain quarter, and otherwise limited 
in their intercourse with the other inhabitants, have been ow- 
ing more to the fear of dangerous collision, than to any unkind 
feeling on the part of the Popes : and we rejoice to add, they 
are now melting away before the benign influence of our pre- 
sent illustrious Pontiff. 

§ 2. Sectaries. 

The Emperor Constantine, in proclaiming liberty of con- 
science for the professors of the Christian religion, left the pa- 
gans in the enjoyment of equal privileges, and gave protection 
to the Jews : but by a subsequent edict he excluded heretics 
from the benefit of the laws in favor of Christians. f He is 

* " II n'y a gueres que Rome qui les ait constamment gardes. . . Us sont 
restes constamment a Avignon, par ce que c'etait terre papale." Essai sur 
1'Histoire Generate, t. iii., ch. xcix. 

f Tit. v., cod. de haeret. et Manich. 

26 



414 



COERCION. 



even alleged, by the Donatist Parmenian,* to have ordered the 
execution of some Donatists, convicted of accusing falsely 
Cecilian, Bishop of Carthage, and of disturbing the public 
peace. 

The right of occupying episcopal sees and churches neces- 
sarily depending on doctrinal points, occasion was afforded for 
the interference of the civil power in ecclesiastical concerns. 
We have elsewhere seen that the authority of the pagan em- 
peror, Aurelian, was implored to dispossess Paul of Samosata 
of the episcopal residence, and that he wisely determined that 
the right of occupancy should depend on the fact of commu- 
nion with the bishops of Italy, especially the Bishop of Rome. 
The decree of St. Felix I. in favor of Domnus, the Catholic 
bishop, was executed with the imperial sanction, f Christian 
emperors took on them to dispossess heretical incumbents, and 
in order to prevent tumult, banished them from their sees. In 
very many instances Catholic prelates suffered from their mis- 
guided zeal. The infliction of penalties for the profession of 
heresy may be justly ascribed to the excesses and outrages of 
sectaries. The immoral and antisocial principles of the Ma- 
nicheans provoked the severity of V alentinian ; which was 
imitated by Gratian, his brother and successor. Theodosius 
followed in their footsteps, and declared that the Donatists 
were included in the general proscription. The penalty to 
which they were subjected was a fine of ten pounds of gold, 
and incapacity for any legal act, to which was added, in some 
cases, banishment. St. Augustin states that he knew of no 
law subjecting them to death.J These coercive measures are 
justly imputed to themselves : " We daily," he says, " suffer 
incredible outrages, far worse than those of robbers and ma- 
rauders, from your clergymen and circumcellions," (a class of 
Donatists so styled from their destroying the huts of the Ca- 
tholic peasantry,) " for, armed w T ith every kind of weapons, they 
rove about, spreading terror everywhere, and disturbing the 
peace, I do not say of the Church, but of the public at large. 
They attack, by night, the habitations of the Catholic clergy, 
and pillage them : they seize on the inmates, beat them with 
clubs, mangle them with various weapons, and leave them 

* Aug. contra ep. Parmen, L i., c. viii. 
f Euseb., Hist. Eccl., 1. vii., ch. xxiv. 
X Contra litt. Petiliani, 1. ii., ch. xx., n. 46. 



COERCION. 



415 



almost lifeless. Moreover, by a new and unprecedented kind 
of cruelty, they put a mixture of lime and vinegar in their 
eyes, and instead of scooping them out at once, they choose to 
torture them slowly, rather than to blind them quickly." He 
proceeds to describe the horrible mutilation of Servus, a Ca- 
tholic bishop, prefacing it by this remark : " I pass over the 
enormities previously committed, by which they forced the 
emperors to enact the laws of which they complain, and 
which are tempered with Christian meekness, rather than as 
severe as such enormous crimes deserve."* We may not won- 
der, then, that the Catholic Bishops in the Council of Carthage, 
held in 404, implored the imperial protection : and that Au- 
gustin himself, who, in the beginning, was averse to all coer- 
cive measures, changed his opinion, and wrote an elaborate 
defence of the imperial laws by which these bandittis were 
restrained.! It does not appear, however, that he at all advo- 
cated their capital punishment ; on the contrary, he employed 
the most solemn adjurations to the public officers, that no 
blood should be shed to avenge the outrages committed against 
religion, or her ministers.J Lenity was so characteristic of 
the episcopal office, that when the Emperors Arcadius and Ho- 
norius deemed it necessary to decree capital punishment 
against such as might perpetrate enormous outrages against 
religion, or its ministers, they cautioned the provincial go- 
vernors not to await any action on the part of the Catholic 
bishops, lest the law should remain without effect. " If any 
one," say they, " fall into the crime of sacrilege, rushing into 
Catholic churches to offer violence to the priests and ministers, 
or disturb the worship, and profane the place, let the offence 
be punished by the governor of the province : and let the go- 
vernor of the province know that the injury done to the priests 
and ministers of the Catholic Church, and to the place itself, 
and to the divine worship, is to be punished by capital sen- 
tence against convicts or confessing culprits : nor let him wait 
for the demand of justice by the bishop who has suffered in- 
jury, since the holiness of his office leaves to him the glory of 
pardoning."^ 

* Contra Crescon. Donat., t. iii., c. xliii., n, 47. 
t Ad Vincentium Rogat., ep. xciii. 

X Ep. c, alias cxxvii., Donate Ep. exxxiii., Marcellino. 
§ Cod., 1. i., tit. iii. 10, de episcopis et clericis. 



416 



COERCION. 



The imperial laws, so far as they are directed to restrain 
and punish outrage, are justifiable on the plainest principles 
of justice and order. It is not equally *easy to vindicate them 
when they universally proscribe sectaries. The Manicheans 
especially, who denied the lawfulness of marriage, fell under 
this indiscriminate proscription. By the edict of Theodosius, 
" the Manicheans were to be expelled from the cities, and 
given up for capital punishment, since no resting place should 
be allowed anywhere to men who commit outrages against 
the elements themselves."* This severity was provoked by 
the immoral practices of which they were guilty. St. Leo 
the Great held a court of inquiry, composed of laymen as well 
as ecclesiastics, and, on the fullest evidence, proclaimed to 
the world the crimes which were usually committed in their 
nightly meetings. These induced him to speak in terms of 
approbation of the laws which proscribed them ; but he was 
careful to observe, that the lenity of the Church shrinks from 
any sanguinary measure, notwithstanding the advantages 
which she may sometimes derive from the just severity of the 
civil authorities, when those who dread punishment have re- 
course to spiritual remedies. " Our fathers," he says, " in 
whose time this abominable heresy broke forth, were earnest 
in their efforts, throughout the whole world, that the impious 
frenzy should be banished from the entire Church ; and justly 
so, since even the princes of the world detested this sacri- 
legious madness to such a degree, that, with the sword of the 
public laws, they cut off its author with many of his follow- 
ers. For they perceived that all regard for probity was de- 
stroyed, all bonds of marriage were dissolved, and divine and 
human laws were at once overturned, if such men profess- 
ing such errors were allowed to live anywhere. That severity 
was for a long time serviceable to the lenity of the Church, 
which, although being contented with the sentence of the 
priesthood, she shrinks from sanguinary vengeance, is, never- 
theless, aided by the severe enactments of Christian princes; 
since those who fear corporal punishment, sometimes have 
recourse to the spiritual remedy ."f 

The first instance of the capital punishment of heretics 

* Cod. Theod., L i., tit. v., n. 5. 

f Ep. xv., ad Turribium, Asturicensem episcopum. 



COERCION. 



417 



under the imperial laws, occurred at Triers, in Germany, in 
the year 383. Up to that period, the Catholic bishops had 
suffered most sanguinary persecution from the Arians and 
Donatists, without invoking the severity of the law against 
their oppressors. St. Chrysostom had laid it down as a maxim, 
that " it is not lawful to slay a heretic, for this would lead to 
interminable strife ;"* and St. Augustin besought Donatus, pro- 
consul of Africa, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to be mindful of 
Christian lenity, and not to punish them even as their crimes 
against society : " We desire them," he says, " to be corrected, 
not to be slain." f At length there were found two bishops in 
Spain, Idacius and Ithacius, who, affecting zeal which was 
not according to knowledge, denounced to the imperial tribu- 
nal Priscillian, and five of his abettors, as guilty of violating 
the laws by the propagation of Manichean errors, a crime 
which was aggravated by licentious practices. Two of the 
most illustrious prelates of the Church, St. Martin of Tours, 
and St. Ambrose, the preceptor of Augustin, condemned the 
proceeding as unworthy of Christian bishops, and refused to 
hold communion with their vindictive colleagues. Of the 
meek spirit of St. Ambrose, a signal instance is recorded. 
Whilst he was in the act of celebrating mass, hearing that an 
Arian priest had fallen into the hands of a Catholic crowd, 
with tears he besought our Lord in the mystery to protect him 
from violence, and despatched, without delay, priests and 
deacons to his relief. It can scarcely be questioned that the 
Popes generally adopted the views of St. Leo, and approved 
of legal coercion as far as it was found necessary to preserve 
public morals, and prevent outrage : yet without detriment to 
liberty of conscience in the profession of the faith. Pope 
Hormisdas, being informed of the violence offered to his le- 
gates, who were engaged in restoring the Eastern churches to 
the communion of the Holy See, and of the murder of a 
Catholic bishop, wrote to the legates : " Even if these be the 
facts, we, nevertheless, make no complaint against the people. 
It is in the power of the respected prince to punish the injury 
done to his authority, and to a Catholic bishop, as he may 
think proper : but our duty is, and we charge you to attend to 
it in our stead, to see that no one embrace unity without 



* Horn, xlvi., in Mat. f Ep. c, alias cxxvii., Donato. 



418 



COERCION. 



knowledge of the truth, or profess the true faith in such a 
way that he may have occasion to complain of being forced 
to it by the prince without the necessary instruction."* John 
L, at the instance of Theodoric, the Arian king of Italy, un- 
dertook a journey to Constantinople, to dissuade the emperor 
Justin from measures of coercion towards the Arians, which 
the king threatened to retaliate on his Catholic subjects. The 
appeal of the Pontiff was completely successful. 

On a review of the acts of the Pontiffs up to the twelfth 
century, f I am convinced that they cannot fairly be charged 
with any coercive enactment, or with having sanctioned any 
sanguinary measures. We shall now consider the share 
which they had in the measures adopted after that period 
against the sectaries that infested the southern provinces of 
France. 

§ 3. Crusades against Manicheans. 

In a Council held at Toulouse, in the year 1119, at which 
Callistus II. presided, it was enacted that the Manicheans 
should be restrained by the secular powers. In order to un- 
derstand the justice of this enactment, we must take into con- 
sideration the conduct of these sectaries, of whom many were 
followers of Peter de Bruis, and of Henry his disciple. When 
Henry entered a city in modest garb and with an affected air 
of sanctity, he was wont to address the people in language 
which excited them to violence and bloodshed. The clergy 
were the immediate objects of popular fury : their dwellings 
were plundered, and often razed to the ground, and they them- 
selves were stoned, or assassinated, unless the nobles came to 
their relief. J The third Council of Lateran, held in 1179, 
under Alexander III., speaking of the various sects of that 
age, says : " They practise such violence against Christians as 
not to spare churches or monasteries, widows or orphans, aged 
persons or children, age or sex, but, heathen-like, they destroy 
and devastate all things."§ The venerable Peter, Abbot of 

* Ep. lxii. 

f John VIII., towards the close of the ninth century, is alleged by Lloren- 
te (vol. i., ch. i., art. iii.) to have promised a plenary indulgence to such as 
might fall in war with the infidels. The historian, however, neglects to state 
that the war was of a defensive character, for the protection of Rome, be- 
sieged by the Saracens. See Fleury, 1. Iii., § xl. 

% Fleury, Hist., 1. lxix., § xxiv. § Can. ult. 



COERCION. 



419 



Cluni, assures us, that the followers of Peter de Bruis " pro- 
faned the churches, overturned the altars, burned the crosses, 
scourged the priests, imprisoned the monks, and forced them 
to marry, using threats and torments for that purpose."* 
Elsewhere he says : " Where they can, or dare, they plunder, 
strike, whip, sometimes even (nay oftentimes) kill, without 
discrimination of persons, ranks, or dignities." Hence he 
maintains that the swords of the knights templars would be 
employed against them with equal justice as against pagan 
violence : " The Christian who unjustly suffers violence from 
a Christian, is no less to be defended by your counsels, and 
even by your swords, than a Christian should be who suffered 
like violence from a pagan."f The desolation produced by 
the marauding troops was such, that Stephen, Abbot of St. 
Genoveffa, as he passed through Toulouse, saw the ruins of 
churches which had been torn down, the remnants of other 
sacred edifices which the fire had destroyed, the very founda- 
tions dug up, and the beasts ranging freely where the dwell- 
ings of men had lately been.J Of the Coterelli, who infested 
the province of Berry, Antonine, quoted by Baronius, relates, 
that " they devastated the country, pillaging it, and dragging 
the inhabitants into captivity, violating their wives in their 
presence, burning the churches, insulting and beating the 
priests often unto death, trampling under foot the Divine Eu- 
charist, breaking the chalices in pieces, and applying the sa- 
cred linens to profane uses."§ The Count de Foix is related 
by Peter of Vaux-Cernay to have attacked monasteries and 
pillaged them, filled religious houses with courtesans, treach- 
erously assassinated many of the faithful, and put to death 
those who surrendered on a promise of life being spared. He 
treacherously seized, and after a mock trial, at which Raymond, 
count of Toulouse, presided, hung Baldwin, brother of this 
count, who, with savage cruelty, gave countenance to this atro- 
cious deed. || Bernard Casvacio, lord of Doma, and his wife, 
treated the Catholics with the utmost cruelty : one hundred and 
fifty persons of both sexes were found at Sarlatum, whose eyes 
had been scooped out by the tyrant: the wife caused the breasts 

* Bibl. Clun., p. 1122. f Petr - Clun., 1. vi., ep. xxvii. 

X Steph. Tornac, ep. 75., al. 91, apud Fleury, 1. lxxiii., § xxxvi. 
§ Apud Baron., an. 1183, p. 769. 

j| Histoire des Croisades contre les Albigeois, par Barrau, vol. ii., p. 66. 



420 



COERCION. 



of the women to be amputated, that they might not give suck, 
and their thumbs cut off, that they might not procure support 
by their labor.* Lawless fury generally characterized all the 
sectaries of those ages. A sect called shepherds, under the 
guidance of a Hungarian apostate from the Cistercian order, 
assumed to themselves sacred functions, and declaimed against 
the clergy. Queen Blanche suffered them to pass through 
Paris without molestation, regarding their exhibitions rather 
as evidences of folly and delusion, than as crimes threatening 
the peace of society. Emboldened by this toleration, they 
went to Orleans, and, in despite of the bishop, harangued the 
people. The bishop warned the clergy, under pain of anathe- 
ma, not to be present at their meetings : but some, prompted 
by curiosity, disregarded the prohibition. A student, unable 
to repress his indignation, contradicted the preacher, charging 
him with deceiving the simple-minded people. The words 
had scarcely escaped his lips, when his head was cleft in two 
with a hatchet in the hands of one of the shepherds. A gene- 
ral attack was then made on the clergy : their dwellings were 
broken into and plundered : their books committed to the 
flames : their persons wounded : several of them killed, or 
thrown into the Loire, so that twenty-five perished on this 
occasion. Above 100,000 of these shepherds traversed France, 
spreading disorder and desolation in their course. Their ar- 
rival at Bourges was signalized by murder, arson, and pillage : 
which provoked the people to rise against them, and engage 
in a bloody contest, in which the banditti were dispersed. 

In order to understand why crusades were proclaimed in 
those ages against sects committing acts of violence, we must 
remember that there was as yet no standing army in the va- 
rious nations of Europe, and that there was scarcely any code 
of laws, or tribunal of justice. The vassals of each baron 
followed their lord to the field : but in case of lawless violence, 
such as that of the sects, which did not directly interest a po- 
tentate, there was no means of repressing it, save the sum- 
moning of volunteers : there was no rallying power so great 
as the standard of the cross, and no allurement so attractive 
as the indulgences of the Church. In a Council held at Poic- 
tiers in the year 1004, it was decreed, that in case of outrages 



* Raynald., an. 1214. 



COERCION. 



421 



being committed against the Church, regular process should 
be formed before the prince, or the local judge ; but if the 
aggressors should resist the execution of the sentence, the 
bishops and nobles were to be summoned to compel submis- 
sion by laying waste the lands. Hence the third Council of 
Lateran, premising the words of Leo the Great, in which he 
declares that the Church is content with the priestly judgment, 
and shuns sanguinary vengeance, did not hesitate to exhort 
the faithful to rally to the defence of the sacred virgins, and 
holy places, when violently assailed : " We enjoin," the fathers 
say, " on all the faithful for the remission of their sins, to op- 
pose manfully such havoc, and defend with arms the Christian 
people."* 

The great crusade against the Albigensians was proclaimed 
in consequence of the assassination of the Pope's legate. For 
its horrific scenes I offer no apology. It is not fair, however, 
to charge them on the Pontiffs, who, in encouraging the faith- 
ful to protect the defenceless, cannot be held responsible for 
the excesses committed under excited feeling. The outrages 
of the Albigensians must be likewise considered. Fifteen 
cities infested by them rose suddenly on the Catholic garrisons, 
and on the Catholics dwelling among them, and made a gene- 
ral massacre, by way of retaliation, for the sack of the city of 
Toulouse. f Of the spirit which animated the Popes, I find an 
evidence in the instructions of Gregory IX. to the commander 
of his forces, in a crusade for the defence of his own territory. 
" The mighty Lord," he says, " wishes the liberty of His 
Church to be maintained in such a manner, that neither hu- 
mility prevent necessary defence, nor the defence go beyond 
the bounds of humility. Whence it follows, that although the 
defender of ecclesiastical liberty sometimes, but rarely and 
unwillingly, uses the material sword against tyrants and per- 
secutors of the Church, without forgetting the ordinary hu- 
mility, he does not, however, use it in such a way as to thirst 
for blood, or desire to be enriched to the detriment of others, 
but he rather seeks to recall those that are in error to the 
path of truth, and with all meekness to preserve them in their 
liberty when recalled. Who can bear with patience that a 

* § xxvii., col. 1683. 

f Histoire des Croisades, par Barrau, vol. ii., p. 274. 



422 



COERCION. 



man whose life could be preserved, should be slain or muti- 
lated by the army of Jesus Christ,* and that the image of the 
Creator Himself should be thus disfigured, as, we have been 
informed, has taken place in these days, which has grieved us 
to the heart ? Brother, it is not expedient for us who invite 
the faithful and the erring children to the breast of our 
Mother the Church, to provoke them by outrages, and exult 
in the effusion of blood ! God forbid that the Roman Church, 
which is wont to rescue from the sword of justice criminals 
worthy of death, should slay or mutilate her children, whom 
she is bound to gather under her wings."f Gregory ordered 
that the lives of the prisoners taken in war should be spared : 
" We have thought it necessary to entreat and exhort you, 
and by our apostolic writings strictly to enjoin on you, to 
cause such as the right hand of Him who exalts us may have 
delivered into the hands of the army of Jesus Christ, to be 
carefully guarded, without any slaying, maiming, or mutila- 
tion of limbs, which we utterly abhor, that so in captivity 
they may enjoy more liberty than when, under Egyptian bon- 
dage, in the name of liberty, they obeyed Pharao and his mi- 
nisters, the officers of his army."J 

Of the humanity of the Popes we have some consoling in- 
stances, which relieve the mind afflicted at the horrors of 
these wars. Voltaire admits that there were instances of 
papal interposition that reflect the highest honor on the court 
of Rome, of which he gives one example. Peter I. of Aragon 
fell fighting on the side of the Count of Toulouse against the 
crusaders, who took his son prisoner. " His widow, Mary of 
Montpellier, who had retired to Rome, pleaded for her son 
with Innocent III., imploring him to employ his authority for 
his liberation. There were moments highly honorable for the 
Court of Rome. The Pope ordered Simon de Montfort to 
restore the youth to the people of Aragon, and Montfort 
obeyed. Had the Popes always used their authority after 
this manner, they would have been the legislators of Europe."§ 
Such they were in reality, which affords no slight grounds for 
believing that the general exercise of their authority was pa- 
ternal and just. 

* The Crusaders are thus styled. f Apud Fleury, 1. cxxix., § liv. 

| Raynald., an. 1229. § Essai sur l'Histoire Generale, t. ii., ch. lx. 



COERCION. 



423 



The wars carried on against the sectaries of the thirteenth 
century were professedly directed to their extermination, not 
by their indiscriminate slaughter, but by compelling them to 
disband, or flee from the provinces which they infested. Not 
only the integrity of religious faith, and the purity of public 
morals, but order and civilization were at stake. The sects 
were in revolt against the general Christian confederacy, 
which was bound together by one faith and one law, of which 
the Pope was the recognized teacher and interpreter. Whilst 
the organization of society was advancing on this basis, the 
sectaries threatened its dissolution, and involved the Christian 
commonwealth in a struggle for its own existence. The re- 
sponsibility of the calamities which ensued rests principally 
with them. Yet I will not dissemble my deep horror of the 
atrocities which sometimes stained the victories of the cru- 
saders. The review of these sanguinary scenes must fill with 
humiliation and affliction every Christian heart. It is far from 
my design to offer any plea for them : but as far as the wars 
themselves were necessary for the defence of the unprotected, 
and for the maintenance of order, they admit of an easy jus- 
tification. The Popes, in encouraging them, fulfilled a painful 
duty imposed on them by their social position, and merited 
well of society, which they preserved from dissolution. As 
Ancillon has acknowledged : " it was the influence and power 
of the Popes that perhaps alone saved Europe from the state 
of barbarism."* 



* Quoted by Fletcher, Comparative View, p. 157. Americ. edit. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE INQUISITION. 

§ 1. Ancient Tribunal. 

It was with a view to put an end to the horrors of the wars 
provoked by the sectaries, that a permanent tribunal for 
their trial and punishment was established by the concurrent 
action of the ecclesiastical and civil powers. In a Council held 
at Verona, in the year 1184, at which the emperor Frederick 
I. was present, Pope Lucius, by the advice of the bishops, 
condemned with anathema all heresies, especially the various 
forms of Manicheism. The canon proceeds to observe, that 
" inasmuch as the severity of ecclesiastical discipline is some- 
times disregarded by such as know not its power," clergymen 
convicted of heresy should be deposed and degraded, and 
" delivered over to the secular power to undergo the punish- 
ment which they deserve, unless the culprit, when detected, 
abjure his heresy before the bishop of the place. Let the 
same be observed if the culprit be a layman, and let him be 
punished by the secular judge, unless he abjure ; and let such 
as relapse after abjuration be left to the secular tribunal, and 
let them not be farther heard."* This is certainly a formal 
recognition of the imperial laws against heresy, and an im- 
plicit approbation of them. If the character of the sectaries 
be borne in mind, it will not be difficult to account for this 
sanction. 

The qucesitores fidei, or Inquisitors, were first appointed by 
Innocent III. At the commencement of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, this strenuous Pontiff despatched two Cistercian monks, 
Guy and Ranier, to the south of France, to oppose the Mani- 



* Cone, t. x., p. 1737. 



THE INQUISITION. 



425 



cheans, and charged them to use all diligence for their dis- 
covery and conversion, authorizing them to absolve them from 
all ecclesiastical censures. They had no civil attributions ; 
but they were directed to urge the employment of coercive 
measures by the civil authorities, when persuasion and ex- 
hortation had proved fruitless. The means employed by the 
early papal commissaries were preaching, exercises of piety, 
and other ordinary appliances of Christian zeal. They were 
men of holy life, burning with divine love, and thirsting for 
the salvation of souls. St. Dominick, who was of their num- 
ber, by the example of apostolic poverty and charity, suc- 
ceeded in reclaiming thousands to the faith. St. Peter de 
Castelnau, a monk of Citeaux, who was also one of them, and 
was besides invested with the authority of papal legate, de- 
sired most ardently to shed his blood for the deluded sectaries, 
and, as if by prophetic instinct, said to his companions : " We 
shall accomplish nothing for the cause of Jesus Christ in this 
country, unless one of us suffer death for the faith : God grant 
that I may be the first to fall beneath the sword of the perse- 
cutor !" His prayer was soon fulfilled. An assassin, hired by 
the faithless count of Toulouse, plunged a dagger in his side, 
and the martyr, as he fell, meekly said : " God forgive you, 
my friend, as I forgive you." 

The imperial laws, published in the year 1220, subjected 
the Manicheans, under their various denominations, to the 
penalty of death; and an edict published in 1224, gave civil 
force to the sentence of the inquisitors, inasmuch as the 
judges and officers were commanded to take into custody con- 
victs by them declared guilty of heres}^. This may be con- 
sidered the origin of the tribunal of the Inquisition, which, 
however, had not for a considerable time a stationary charac- 
ter, or fixed form. The Inquisitors preached to the people, 
inviting them to come forward, avow and abandon their er- 
rors. They searched out those who neglected to avail them- 
selves of this indulgence, and on conviction of obstinacy and 
contumacy, handed them over to the civil power. This was 
enjoined on those of Italy in 1238, by Gregory IX. The tur- 
bulence of the sectaries, which is fully attested by the records 
of the times, is the only justification which I shall offer for 
these coercive measures. Many of the early inquisitors were 
assassinated. 



426 



THE INQUISITION. 



The ecclesiastical character of the tribunal is evident from 
its judges, who were clergymen, from the chief matter of 
cognisance, which was heresy, and from its original organi- 
zation, which was planned and directed by the Pontiff. It 
assumed a secular character by the action of the emperor, 
and of other potentates, who attached civil effects, espe- 
cially capital punishment, to its sentence. For this reason, it 
could nowhere exist without the concurrence of both author- 
ities. Raymond VII., count of Toulouse, introduced it into 
his dominions in 1229, in order to prevent a renewal of the 
civil war, which had raged there during twenty years, in the 
lifetime of his father, the protector of the Albigensians. 
James, king of Aragon, by the advice of St. Raymond of 
Pennafort, established it in his kingdom in 1232. St. Louis 
obtained of Alexander IV. its extension to all France in 1255. 
Premislaus, king of Bohemia, procured it for his kingdom in 
1257. From the sanction which it received from the meek 
Louis, as well as from other holy men, we may reasonably 
infer that it was not designed to be a sanguinary tribunal ; 
it was intended as a measure of police, which would intimi- 
date those who, in the. name of religion, spread disorder and 
perpetrated outrage. 

The mode of proceeding prescribed in the Council of Be- 
ziers, in 1246, by order of Innocent IV., was calculated to 
prevent the necessity of recourse to coercion. On the arrival 
of the Inquisitor in any city or town, the clergy and people 
were assembled in some place, and addressed by him, all who 
were conscious of the guilt of heresy being exhorted to come 
forward within a specified time, which was called the time of 
grace, and abjure their errors. Such as avowed them with 
marks of repentance were exempt from capital punishment, 
perpetual imprisonment, banishment, and confiscation of pro- 
perty. Those who were denounced by others, and who did 
not spontaneously appear within the time, were to be spe- 
cially summoned, informed of the charges advanced against 
them, and heard in reply. If their defence was not satisfac- 
tory, they were liable to be condemned according to the na- 
ture of the evidence. Those who avowed heretical senti- 
ments were to be privately admonished in the presence of a 
select number of prudent Catholics, that they might be in- 
duced to abjure their errors. Such as were obstinate were 



THE INQUISITION. 



427 



required to acknowledge their sentiments publicly, that sen- 
tence might be pronounced on them in the presence of the 
civil magistrate, to whom they were handed over. Relapsed 
heretics, fugitives from justice, and those who suppressed the 
truth, were liable to perpetual imprisonment. This punish- 
ment, however, could, after some time, be remitted with the 
advice of the bishop, on security being given for the perform- 
ance of suitable penance. Such as were not imprisoned were 
to enlist for a time in the crusades, and to present themselves 
on Sundays and festivals in the church, in a penitential habit. 
Those who were condemned to death forfeited their property 
to the public treasury. By subsequent enactments the tribu- 
nal obtained the benefit of these forfeitures: yet its funds 
were often so low that it could not pay the very moderate 
salaries of its officers. 

From all the means employed to gain over the sectaries, it 
may be fairly inferred that comparatively few experienced the 
extreme rigor of the law. Llorente* makes a most extrava- 
gant estimate of the sufferers under the operation of the an- 
cient system, although he himself acknowledges that its acti- 
vity was chiefly confined to the thirteenth century, that it had 
considerably abated in the fourteenth, and still more so in the 
fifteenth, when it did not punish with confiscation of property, 
much less with death. 

Puigblanch says that " in Italy and in Rome itself, the In- 
quisition soon declined."f Voltaire states that 44 it languished 
in Aragon, as well as France, without functions, without or- 
der, and almost forgotten."J We may, then, regard it is a 
tribunal erected in a disorganized state of society, to repress 

* This writer was, in 1789 and the two following years, Secretary of the 
Spanish Inquisition ; but he was subsequently deprived of his office, and sent 
to do penance in a convent for a breach of confidence, it being discovered 
that he had communicated to some philosophers the secrets which he was 
sworn to keep. On the invasion of the French, he attached himself to the in- 
terests of Joseph Bonaparte, who placed at his service the archives of the In- 
quisition, many of which he burned. His history of the tribunal, although 
professedly composed from authentic documents, is a most malignant misre- 
presentation of its spirit and proceedings. It betrays a deadly hatred against 
the Catholic Church, the Pope, the religious orders, and the clergy generally, 
and a deep sympathy with the deistical clubs. 

t Inquisition Unmasked, p. 13. 

X Essai sur l'Histoire, t. iv., ch. cxxxvi. 



428 



THE INQUISITION. 



sectaries of a turbulent character, which, after having for a 
time manifested an awful energy, soon lost its terrific attribu- 
tions. I cannot think without horror on any of those scenes, 
which ensued when the civil authorities seized on the convicts 
to lead them to the stake. It is enough to freeze our blood to 
think that the delusions of the mind, or even the excesses com- 
mitted under fanatical influences, were visited with such 
punishment. It gives us an idea of the fierce character of the 
age, which could have required or admitted so violent a re- 
medy for the disorders committed in the name of religion. 

§ 2. Spanish Inquisition. 

The modern tribunal of the Inquisition may be denominated 
Spanish, because it has displayed its fearful power chiefly in 
the dominions of the king of Spain. At the solicitation of Fer- 
dinand, Sixtus IV., in the year 1478, authorized the erection of 
a supreme and subordinate tribunals of Inquisition, throughout 
the Spanish dominions. The object which the monarch had in 
view was, doubtless, the security of his throne, which he felt 
was endangered by the number of false Christians, professed 
converts from Judaism, or Mahometanism, who secretly prac- 
tised their former superstitions, and kept up treasonable cor- 
respondence with the Moors of Barbary. Puigblanch says : 
"It is indeed true, that the Moors of Granada had in agitation, 
several years before, to deliver up the kingdom to the Barbary 
powers, or to the Grand Turk."* Guizot is justly of opinion 
that Ferdinand was guided by motives of policy, and that he 
sought to maintain order by means of this vigilant and strict 
police. t Prescott partially admits it, although he maintains 
that religious zeal was the inspiring motive of Isabella, who 
desired to provide for the integrity of Catholic faith. It is pro- 
bable that both views may have influenced the royal counsels ; 
and certainly, considered in a human point of view, it was a 
master-stroke of policy, well calculated to defeat the machina- 
tions of the secret enemies of the crown. 

The Spanish Inquisition may be styled a royal tribunal, since 
the king appointed the supreme Inquisitor, from among the 

• * Inquisition Unmasked. 

| " Elle fut d' abord plus politique que religieuse, et destinee a maintenir 
V ordre plutotqu' adefendre la foi." Cours d'Histoire Moderne, t. v., lec. ii. 



THE INQUISITION. 



429 



bishops, with the assent of the Pope, and otherwise exercised 
an influence equivalent, in many instances, to control. Vol- 
taire,* De Maistre,f and Ranke,J agree in recognising its royal 
character. Cardinal Baluffi observes : " It is notorious that 
the tribunals of Spain and Portugal were royal, and acted in- 
dependently of Rome, and often in opposition to her wishes."^ 
For this reason Paul III. encouraged the Neapolitans in oppos- 
ing its introduction among them by Charles V., and Pius IV. 
countenanced and sanctioned the resistance of the people of 
Milan, when Philip II. attempted to impose this yoke on them. 
The Popes oftentimes and loudly complained of the excessive 
rigor of the Spanish tribunal, and in many instances interpos- 
ed, by authorizing the secret absolution of numbers of persons, 
and by absolving those who fled to their clemency from the 
national judges. They even removed several of the inquisitors 
for cruelty. Llorente is an unwilling witness to the humanity 
of the Pontiffs, which he unjustly ascribes to interested mo- 
tives : "The result," he says, " of the policy was favorable to 
humanity, since it preserved for those who implored the cle- 
mency of the Holy See, their honor and fortune, and those of 
their children. "|| 

An auto-da-fe, or sentence of faith, which, in Spain, generally 
terminated in the burning of some convicts, was celebrated at 
Rome, before St. Peter's Church, under Alexander VI., in a 
manner not unworthy the earthly representative of Him who 
came to call sinners to repentance. Two hundred and fifty 
Spaniards, who fled from the terrors of the national inquisi- 
tion to the clemency of the Pontiff, had avowed themselves 
guilty of relapsing into Judaical superstitions. Dressed in the 
penitential habit called son benito, on bended knees they sup- 
plicated to be reconciled with the Church. By the authority 
of the Pope, who from an elevated situation looked down be- 
nignly on his repentant countrymen, they were absolved from 
ecclesiastical censures. Two by two they then entered the 
great basilic of the prince of the apostles, and thence proceed- 

* Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, t. iv., ch. xxxvi. 
f Lettres sur l'lnquisition Espagnole, let. i., p. 12. 
% Turkish and Spanish Empires, Spanish Empire, ch. ii. 
§ L' America una volta Spagnuola, vol. i., pref., vol. ii., p. 139. 
|| Histoire Critique de l'lnquisition d'Espagne, par D. Jean Antoine Llo- 
rente, traduite par Alexis Pellier, vol. i., ch. vii., art. iii., § viii. 

27 



430 THE INQUISITION. 

\ 

ed in the same manner to the church of St. Mary supra Mi- 
nervam, where the officers of the Inquisition resided. Having 
given thanks to God for His boundless mercy, they laid aside 
the garments of humiliation, and exulted in their restoration 
to the Christian privileges.* This surely was a scene at which 
the angels of heaven might rejoice. What can be more glo- 
rious for the Popes than the confidence with which their au- 
thority was appealed to, which enabled Sixtus IV. to style the 
Holy See : " oppressorum ubique tutissimum refugium,"f the 
certain refuge of the oppressed of every clime ? This Pontiff 
did not hesitate to plead with the king for those who might 
shrink from public exposure, but who would eagerly seek par- 
don, if their private humiliation were accepted : " Since," he 
says, " shame of public correction sometimes drives those that 
are in error to wretched despair, so that they prefer to die in 
sin than live dishonored, we have judged it necessary to come 
to their relief, and conformably to the Gospel-teaching, to bring 
back, by the clemency of the Apostolic See, the sheep that had 
strayed, to the flock of the true Shepherd, our Lord Jesus 
Christ."J He added, that " clemency alone makes us equal to 
God, as far as human nature is capable," and he besought the 
king and queen, by the tender mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and exhorted them, in imitation of Him whose property it is to 
show mercy and to spare, to pardon the penitent, and give 
them full security in the enjoyment of their property. These 
are consoling evidences of the disposition of the Popes to pro- 
cure the exercise of the royal clemency, in an institution that 
wears a terrific aspect for those who are obstinate in error. 
Without dissembling this revolting feature, we shall proceed 
to consider the mode observed in the process. 

§ 3. Mode of Proceeding. 

A veil of impenetrable secrecy formerly shrouded the pro- 
ceedings of the Inquisition, which gave occasion to surmises 
and imputations of the most odious kind ; but nothing can 
now be considered secret, since the most confidential instruc- 
tions by which her officers were guided, have been made 
public by the treachery of some of them, and all her archives 

* Llorente, vol. 1, § xxxvi. f Breve, 29 January, 1481. 

% Breve, 2 Aug., 1483. 



THE INQUISITION. 



431 



have been explored by her enemies. Secrecy was enjoined 
especially with a view to protect accusers or witnesses from 
the vengeance of the culprit or his friends, and to preserve 
the character of those whose faith was called in question, 
until their heterodoxy should have been fully ascertained. 
Concealment was not designed in order to practise injustice 
with impunity, for in no tribunal were greater precautions 
taken to arrive at a knowledge of the facts, which were re- 
corded in the greatest detail. It might be supposed to afford 
an opportunity for injustice, but there were many persons 
concerned in the examination and other proceedings, and there 
were powerful checks in the dependance of local tribunals 
on the supreme Council. Before an arrest could take place, 
if the local officers were not unanimous as to the sufficiency 
of the grounds for it, the Council of the Supreme, as it was 
styled, had to be consulted. All the officers were sworn to do 
justice, and to be strictly impartial, under penalty of ecclesi- 
astical censure in case they indulged malice. They were re- 
quired, like jurors, to keep their minds unbiassed, and attend 
strictly to the evidence. Although the witnesses were not 
confronted with the accused, nor their names communicated 
to him, he was made acquainted with the nature of the charges 
and evidence in a manner calculated to enable him to justify 
himself, if innocent. No aid was afforded him to conceal 
guilt, or defeat the searching power of the tribunal, but every 
thing was directed to elicit a true statement. He was allowed 
the aid of counsel, with whom, however, he conferred in the 
presence of an inquisitor, because professional aid was given 
to direct him in a just defence, but not to enable him to evade 
the law by subterfuges, or artifices. He was interrogated on 
oath, as was formerly usual in all criminal tribunals, and thus 
put under the necessity of criminating himself ; but he had 
an advantage allowed in no other tribunal, that his avowal 
of guilt, when accompanied by signs of repentance, exempted 
him from punishment, or secured a great mitigation of its 
rigor. 

The use of the torture to elicit the truth, was common in 
all tribunals, when the Inquisition was established : hence it 
should not be made a matter of special reproach, especially 
by the admirers of the ancient Romans and Greeks, from whom 
it passed to the Christian courts. It was very rarely resorted 



432 



THE INQUISITION. 



to in this tribunal, and only in cases wherein either positive 
proof or strong presumptive evidence of guilt existed. In the 
edict of 2d September, 1561, it was qualified as a dangerous 
means, to be employed only in extraordinary cases. It could 
not be used unless the local inquisitors were unanimous in 
decreeing it. In all cases of disagreement, the Council of the 
Supreme had to be consulted, whose sanction was not given 
unless after a canonical trial by twelve jurors."* The ac- 
cused had the right to appeal to the Supreme Council, in case 
the local inquisitors were unanimous, who, however, might 
neglect the appeal, if it seemed to them wanton and ground- 
less. Llorente acknowledges that the decisions of the Coun- 
cil were generally characterized by justice and clemency. 
He also confesses that the torture has long since been entirely 
abandoned, although the prosecuting attorney continued to 
demand its application, according to an ancient formulary, 
and sometimes every preparation was made to apply it, in 
order to intimidate the culprit into an avowal of tine truth.f 

The treatment of the prisoners was humane: their cells 
were lightsome and airy, and with ground attached to them 
for exercise ; not deep, damp dungeons, as novelists are wont 
to imagine. Chains were never used, unless to restrain some 
one who appeared bent on self-destruction. All this is testi- 
fied by Llorente, J notwithstanding his desire to represent the 
institution in the worst possible light. Puigblanch is also 
compelled to acknowledge the attention which was paid to 
the comforts of the prisoners, some of whom were attended 
by their own domestics.§ 

Although the Inquisition left no means untried to discover 
the guilt of persons denounced to it as entertaining heretical 
sentiments, it had the strictest regard to truth and justice. It 
was a formidable tribunal, because it thoroughly sifted every 
charge and testimony : it weighed every expression and act, 
and, without deference to rank, wealth, learning, or other 
qualifications, it extended its searching power to all classes ; 
it penetrated the most secret recesses, and struck with its 
awful penalties all whom it found tainted with heresy. The 

* Llorente, Histoire Critique, vol. ii., ch. xiv., art. iii., § xv. 
f Ibidem, vol. i., ch. ix., art. vii. % Ibidem, art. iv. 

$ History of the Inquisition, 1. ii., ch. xviii. 



THE INQUISITION. 



433 



meek vestals were responsible for the hasty expressions of 
confidential communication in their deep solitudes — the learn- 
ed professors had to answer at its bar for the opinions de- 
livered to their pupils — the fervid preachers, whose zeal won 
multitudes to the faith, were called on to explain some inac- 
curacy of language in an extemporaneous burst of eloquence : 
and even Spain's own primate, Carranza, was its prisoner, 
and almost its victim. The holiest men could not entirely 
escape unscathed. St. Ignatius of Lojola, St. John of God, 
St. Joseph Calasanctius, John D'Avila, and many others most 
sound in faith, fell under suspicion. Had it only watched 
with jealousy over the integrity of doctrine, and, with the rod 
of ecclesiastical censures, driven from the temple the false and 
faithless, it would have deserved the commendation of all the 
friends of revelation : but who shall give us terms to express 
our horror for the autos-da-fe, in which a pile of human vic- 
tims often closed a religious ceremonial, and a display of 
mercy to the penitent ! It is not Voltaire alone that states, 
that " after the conquest of Grenada, the Inquisition through- 
out all Spain displayed an activity and severity which never 

characterized the ordinary tribunals The Popes had 

erected these tribunals through policy, and the Spanish in- 
quisitors stained them by their barbarity."* Cardinal BaluffL 
avows that " their proceedings caused grief and shame to the 
Roman Inquisition, and excited the horror of all nations."f 

The number of sufferers may not be ascertained, since many 
of the records have been destroyed by Llorente and others, who 
prefer estimates to statistics, and, without any regard to facts, 
indulge the most extravagant calculations. If the vulgar es- 
timate mentioned by Mariana be correct, it is sufficiently hor- 
rible, without limiting the victims to the single city of Seville, 
and to a single year, and making it the basis of other esti- 
mates, as Llorente has artfully contrived. Prescott discovers 
the trick of Llorente, and yet exculpates him from any wil- 
ful exaggeration, remarking, however, that " one might rea- 
sonably distrust Llorente's tables, from the facility with which 
he receives the most improbable estimates in other matters."{ 

* Essai sur l'Histoire Generale, t. iv., ch. cxxxvi. 
f L' America una volta Spagnuola, prefaz. 

\ History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. iii., ch xxvi, part ii., n. 155. 



434 



THE INQUISITION. 



The multitude of the early sufferers is accounted for by the 
solicitude of the Spanish sovereigns for the national indepen- 
dence, of which the judaizing Christians were the secret ene- 
mies. Don Melchor de Macanaz, a statesman high in the 
court of Philip V., and who himself had suffered from the 
action of the Inquisition, subsequently defended it, and affirm- 
ed, that " with the exception of very few cases intended to 
stop the progress of Lutheranism in the reign of Philip II., 
scarcely three persons had been sentenced."* Puigblanch, 
who quotes him, denies the correctness of his assertion, and 
refers to the auto-da-fe under Charles II. The actual statis- 
tics given by Llorente present, indeed, in some instances, six- 
teen sufferers on one occasion, in many others a much smaller 
number ; but even three, or one, are too many not to excite 
our horror. Philip V. did himself honor by refusing to assist 
at an exhibition of this kind, which, happily, was extremely 
rare under succeeding sovereigns. It is proper to observe, 
that sodomites were sometimes the subjects of this punish- 
ment, as in 1506, when ten of them were burned at Seville. f 
Since the year 1781, or 1783, no one has suffered death under 
the operation of the Spanish Inquisition. " Most of the sen- 
tences passed for the last fifty years," says Llorente, writing 
in the early part of this century, " were of this character," 
namely, obliging the culprits to abjure their errors in the hall 
of the Inquisition, " and we must do justice to the inquisitors 
of our days, by stating, that with the exception of very rare 
cases, they have followed a system of moderation which does 
them honor."J 

The abolition of the Spanish Inquisition was decreed by 
Napoleon on the 4th December, 1808, the same day on which 
Madrid capitulated. Ferdinand VII. restored it on 21st July, 
1814, but it has since entirely, ceased. It is now only a matter 
of history. In justice to the illustrious nation in which its 
frightful power was displayed, we must take into considera- 
tion the motives which impelled the inquisitors, and reconciled 
the people to the scenes which were enacted. Jealousy of 
national independence, in the early stages of the tribunal, and 

* Critical Defence of the Inquisition, quoted in Inquisition Unmasked, ch. v. 
f Llorente, Histoire Critique, vol. i., ch. x., art. iii., § i. 
% Ibidem, ch. ix., art. xiii., § v. 



THE INQUISITION. 



435 



at a later period, fear of outbreaks on the part of the abettors 
of the new doctrines, prompted the inquisitors to take effec- 
tual measures for repressing innovation, and punishing apos- 
tasy. The civil wars of Germany and France convinced the 
Spanish sovereigns that the tranquillity of their dominions 
required them to oppose the progress of the reformers, and 
they wished the Inquisition to exert all its vigilance to dis- 
cover the latent elements which might suddenly explode and 
spread destruction. The number of those who suffered on 
this account was comparatively small, but far too great to be 
contemplated by us without deep feelings of horror. If re- 
crimination were argument, we could point to the atrocities 
committed against Catholics, to force them to abandon the 
faith of their fathers : whilst the power of the Inquisition was 
employed only against those who proved recreant to the faith 
which they had once professed. 

§ 4. Roman Inquisition. 

The progress of the new opinions awakened the zeal of 
Paul III., who, in the year 1543, organized a Council of Cardi- 
nals, under the title of the Congregation of the Supreme In- 
quisition. Six cardinals originally composed it, to whom two 
more were associated by St. Pius V. They are strictly an 
ecclesiastical tribunal, charged with the affairs regarding the 
integrity of faith throughout the world. Hence doctrinal mat- 
ters are referred to them for examination, and the orthodoxy 
of clergymen especially, whose sentiments may be called in 
question, is decided by their judgment. They determine also 
the heterodoxy of books, and condemn them in case they dis- 
cover them to contain error. The Pope is Supreme Inquisitor, 
as the highest guardian of faith. The tribunal has no tempo- 
ral attributions out of the Roman States, and its action within 
them is very circumscribed, being little more than the injunc- 
tion of penitential observances, or, in some cases, imprison- 
ment for crimes against religion, in connexion with the order 
of society. In former times, although very rarely, some exe- 
cutions took place after conviction for heresy, or some kindred 
crime. The providence of God permitted its archives to fall 
into the hands of Napoleon, who caused them to be trans- 
ported to Paris ; but nothing has ever been brought to light 
to its prejudice, which, as Cardinal Pacca well observes. 



436 



THE INQUISITION. 



shows that its proceedings were found unexceptionable. " The 
Inquisition," says Count de Maistre, " is of its nature good, 
mild, and conservative : such is the universal and indelible 
character of every ecclesiastical institution : you see it at 
Rome : you will see it wherever the Church has influence. 
If the civil power, adopting this institution, thinks proper for 
its own safety to render it more severe, the Church is not 
responsible."* 

Although the praise of moderation is justly awarded to the 
Roman tribunal, and the efforts of the Popes have been con- 
stantly directed to moderate the action of the Spanish Inqui- 
sition, whose severity they have often deplored, yet it is unde- 
niable that the whole system is based on the principle, that 
heresy is a crime against society, punishable by the civil 
power. This was formerly held to be an axiom. Luther, as 
Limborch observes, " was, indeed, against putting heretics to 
death, but for almost all other punishments that the civil ma- 
gistrate could inflict, and, agreeably to this opinion, he per- 
suaded the electors of Saxony not to tolerate in their domin- 
ions the followers of Zuinglius, in the opinion of the sacra- 
ment, because he esteemed the real presence an essential or 
fundamental article of faith. John Calvin was well known 
to be in principle and practice a persecutor. So entirely was 
he in the persecuting measures, that he wrote a treatise in 
defence of them, maintaining the lawfulness of putting here- 
tics to death. And that by heretics he meant such who differed 
from himself, is evident from his treatment of Castellio and 
Servetus."f His followers, above a century afterwards, em- 
bodied the principle in their confession of faith, in which they 
profess that " the civil magistrate hath authority, and it is his 
duty, to take order that all blasphemies and heresies be sup- 
pressed ;"J in proof of which references are given at the bot- 
tom of the page to texts of the old law, which prescribe con- 
fiscation of goods, banishment, imprisonment, and death. The 
National Covenant of the Kirk of Scotland, republished in 
Philadelphia in the year 1838, approves of the sanguinary 
laws against Catholics which so long disgraced the English 

* Lettres sur l'Inquisition Espagnole, let. i. 
f History of the Inquisition, Introd., p. 62. 
J Westminster Confession, ch. xxiii. 



THE INQUISITION. 



437 



statute-book, and contains an oath of the members of the 
League, to resist all errors and corruptions according to their 
vocation, to the uttermost of that power that God had put 
into their hands ! 

Happily for mankind and for religion, the ages of coercion 
have passed away, and men are now left to worship God ac- 
cording to the dictates of their own conscience. None rejoice 
more than Catholics in this liberty, and none are less willing 
to see it abridged. Although we hold it to be necessary to 
believe all that God has revealed, and to obey all His com- 
mandments, we are pleased that the divine truths should be 
made known only by the preaching of the Gospel, and that 
obedience should be secured by the promises and threats, 
which are the sanctions of revelation. No principle of the 
Catholic Church obliges us to approve of coercion in matters 
of religion. The legislation of the thirteenth century may 
have been rendered necessary by the ferocity of sectaries ; 
but now that civilization is general, and order and law pre- 
vail, we rejoice that the Church presents herself without any 
adventitious support, that the homage given her may be not 
only free, but unsuspected. It seems reserved for our age to 
behold new triumphs of religion, when men who prize highly 
their civil rights, and spurn restraint, shall yield to the multi- 
plied evidences with which God has rendered His revelation 
worthy of belief. 



THE PRIMACY. 

PART III. 
LITERARY AND MORAL INFLUENCE. 



CHAPTER L 



PERSONAL ATTAINMENTS, 

Revelation enlightens the mind by the communication of su- 
pernatural knowledge, without extinguishing the lesser light 
of reason, or preventing the exercise of the natural faculties, 
It must, then, be useful to inquire how far the chief ministers 
of religion have contributed to the development of the natural 
powers by the cultivation of letters, science and art, and what 
distinction they themselves have attained to, by their genius 
and research. The question of the primacy is, of course, en- 
tirely independent of these considerations : but a prejudice is 
raised against its admission, as if it necessarily blunted the 
faculties of the human mind, and prevented their legitimate 
expansion. Ignorance and mental darkness are alleged to be 
the results of submission to an authority, which undertakes to 
direct and control the mind, by reducing all men to a common 
standard of belief. If it shall appear that the Roman Pontiffs 
were generally men of a high order of intellect, who by their 
industry and talent acquired distinction, and who in their ele- 
vation honored and patronized learning, it will effectually 
silence those who clamor against them as enemies of mental 
progress. Nothing, indeed, is clearer in history than that they 
were generally superior to their contemporaries in those en- 
dowments which best became their office, and that they exert- 
ed all their efforts to encourage even profane literature, but 
still more, sacred science. Although our Divine Redeemer 
chose fishermen for his apostles, to manifest more clearly His 
wisdom and power in the success of their preaching, yet He did 
not exclude the learned and wise from His ministry. Clement 
of Rome, one of the earliest successors of St. Peter, has left us 
indubitable evidence of learning and eloquence in his power- 
ful epistle to the Corinthians, which, seventy years after it was 



442 



PERSONAL ATTAINMENTS. 



written, continued to be read publicly in the assemblies of the 
faithful, with veneration almost approaching that given to the 
inspired writings. The letters of St. Cornelius to St. Cyprian 
are composed in a pure style, and with the dignity which be- 
came the chief Bishop, Pope Julius wrote with force and pro- 
priety, in vindication of St. Athanasius. Damasus was distin- 
guished for his learning and genius, and obtained praise for 
his poetical essays. The few relics that have been preserved 
of the writings of the Pontiffs of the first four ages, give us a 
high opinion pf their talents and acquirements, and make us 
regret the loss of the other many valuable letters which were 
addressed by them, on various occasions, to their colleagues, 
and to the faithful generally. 

It is unnecessary to state, that the pontifical documents of 
the fifth age continued to be distinguished for perspicuity and 
dignity, without any affectation of meretricious ornament. 
Leo the Great, in his sermons, has left us proofs of superior 
eloquence ; the language of ancient Rome falling from his 
lips with something of the majesty and power with which 
Tully thundered in the forum. The graces of his diction con- 
tributed, as well as the sanctity of his office, to win to mercy 
the proud Attila, and had its share in the moral miracle, by 
which the triumphant barbarian, at the voice of the Pontiff, 
stopped suddenly in his career of conquest, at the gate of the 
Eternal city. Whoever reads the work of Gregory the Great, 
" on the pastoral office," must admire the simplicity and force 
of his diction, the solidity of his judgment, and his acquain- 
tance with the difficult science of governing men. Although 
he may not claim praise for profane erudition, or elegance of 
style, he must be allowed to have possessed the knowledge 
which best suited his station, and to have expressed his senti- 
ments impressively. He did not, indeed, set a high value on 
secular learning, which, however, he acknowledged to be a 
useful auxiliary to sacred science. In his commentary on the 
Books of Kings, he observes : " Although secular learning of 
itself avails not for the spiritual conflict in which the saints 
are engaged, nevertheless, when it is united with the study of 
the divine Scripture, the knowledge of Scripture is more accu- 
rately acquired. The liberal arts should be learned with this 
view, that by their aid the divine words may be more perfectly 
understood. The evil spirits take from the hearts of some the 



PERSONAL ATTAINMENTS. 443 

desire of learning, so that they are ignorant of secular science, 
and they do not attain to the sublimity of spiritual know- 
ledge."* These remarks clearly show that he was by no 
means opposed to the cultivation of profane literature, with 
due subordination to sacred science : yet he is often represent- 
ed, on the authority of a writer several centuries posterior, as 
having banished mathematicians from his palace, and con- 
signed the Palatine library to the flames. This statement de- 
serves no confidence ; but were it certain, it would not prove 
his hostility to learning, since astrologers formerly passed un- 
der the name of mathematicians ; and the multitude of super- 
stitious works, which doubtless filled the Palatine library, 
might be consumed without much detriment to the republic of 
letters. It is, however, certain that he reproved Dedier, Bi- 
shop of Vienne, for devoting himself to the teaching of gram- 
mar, by which he seems to mean the classics, and declared 
that the praises of Jupiter should not resound from a mouth 
consecrated to God ;f but this can only imply a disapproval 
of such studies when pursued to the prejudice of sacred learn- 
ing, and of the important duties of the episcopate. John the 
Deacon, his biographer, in language that savors of hyperbole, 
describes the favor which he manifested to learned men : "'He 
was surrounded by the most erudite clergymen and religious 
monks. . . . Wisdom seemed at that time to have built for her- 
self a temple at Rome, and to have raised the Apostolic See 
on the arts, as on seven most precious columns. None of the 
attendants of the Pontiff, even of the humblest class, manifest- 
ed anything uncouth in his language or deportment ; but the 
Latin language, with the full Roman ornaments, was dominant 
in the palace. The various arts were flourishing." J Making 
all due allowance for the bias, or contracted views of the 
writer, we may safely say that Gregory was no enemy of po- 
lite literature. 

In consequence of the inroads of the northern barbarians, 
learning rapidly declined in Italy and the south of Europe ge- 
nerally, in the seventh and following centuries, since letters 
could not be easily cultivated amidst the din of arms. The 
Popes, however, continued to be respectable for their personal 

* L. v., in 1 Reg., c. iv., n. 30. f L. xi., ep. liv., ad Desider. ep. Vien. 
X Joan. diac. vit., 1. ii., n. xiii. 



444 



• 

PERSONAL ATTAINMENTS. 



attainments, and to manifest special esteem for those who ap- 
plied themselves to literature. Vitalian, being anxious to 
place a worthy prelate on the See of Canterbury, fixed his eyes 
on Adrian, who added to great knowledge of the divine Scrip- 
tures a familiar acquaintance with the Greek and Latin lan- 
guages: but the humble monk, pleading bodily infirmity, suc- 
ceeded in getting Theodore, of Tarsus, substituted in his stead, 
who was still more distinguished for sacred and profane learn- 
ing. 

Pope Agatho, in the decline of the seventh century, sent bi- 
shops, priests, and others of inferior rank, as legates to the 
East, to assist at the sixth Council, and accompanied them 
with letters to the emperor, in which he said : " We do not 
send them as if to display their knowledge, — for who can ex- 
pect a perfect acquaintance with the Scriptures from men that 
live in the midst of barbarians, and with great distress of 
mind, procure their daily subsistence by manual labor ? In 
simplicity of heart and without hesitation, we hold the doc- 
trines which have been defined by our Apostolic predecessors, 
and by the five venerable Councils, and the faith handed down 
from our fathers, and we ask of God as a special grace, that 
we may keep the words of their definitions and their meaning 
unchanged, without adding to them, or taking from them any- 
thing. We have furnished these legates with some texts of 
the fathers which this Apostolic See venerates, and with their 
books, which, if you wish, they will show you, to explain, not 
with the ornaments of worldly eloquence, of which they are 
destitute, but in the sincerity of that religion which we have 
learned from our infancy, the faith of this Apostolic Church, 
your spiritual mother."* This beautiful apology for the sim- 
ple faith of those times should be remembered by those who 
ascribe the introduction of novelties to the ignorance of the 
middle ages. In the literary obscurity by which the Popes 
found themselves encompassed, they held fast to the tradition 
of their fathers, to which they were careful to add nothing, 
and from which they would suffer nothing* to be taken away. 

Notwithstanding the decline of secular learning, the Popes 
continued to be distinguished for the study of the sacred Scrip- 
tures, which is mentioned in commendation of Leo II., Bene- 

* Cone. Mansi, torn, xi., col. 235. Act iv., Cone. Constant, iii. 



PERSONAL ATTAINMENTS. 



445 



diet II., John VI., and John VII. The superior attainments of 
Eastern clergymen, when the West was overrun by the barba- 
rians, caused several of them successively to be elevated to the 
Apostolic See : it being the fixed sentiment of all, that the ruler 
of the Church should be distinguished by the ornaments of lite- 
rature, as well as by his virtues. Gregory III., a Syrian, and 
Zachary, a Greek, both of them well acquainted with the 
Greek and Latin languages, occupied the chair of Peter to- 
wards the middle of the eighth century. 

In the decline of the same century, Hadrian I., a Roman, go- 
verned the Church. His reply to the Caroline books affords 
evidence of much erudition, and still greater reasoning powers. 
Leo III. has gained praise as a patron of learning. The visit 
of Charlemagne to Rome, during his pontificate, led him to 
form a high idea of the importance of letters : " The ruins of 
Rome," as Voltaire avows, " furnished all things to the West, 
which was still in an embryo state. Both Alcuin, the Eng- 
lishman, who at that time enjoyed celebrity, and Peter of Pisa, 
who instructed Charlemagne in the rudiments of grammar, 
had studied at Rome."* 

The genius and piety of Sergius II., when a boy, attracted 
the notice of Leo, who attended to his education, and thus pre- 
pared a worthy occupant for the papal chair. St. Nicholas I. 
possessed learning and eloquence far beyond his contempora- 
ries. Stephen VI. left after him a discourse abounding in 
Scriptural quotations, which were the food with which his 
soul was nourished, and which he distributed to his spiritual 
children. 

After a dark and dreary interval, in which ignorance and 
vice contended for the sway, Gerbert, a Frenchman, of great 
mechanical genius, and of much erudition, occupied the Holy 
See, at the close of the tenth century, under the name of Syl- 
vester II. Hallam describes him as a man " who, by an un- 
common quickness of parts, shone in very different provinces 
of learning, and was beyond question the most accomplished 
man of the dark ages." He " displays, in his epistles, a tho- 
rough acquaintance with the best Latin authors, and a taste 
for their excellencies. He writes with the feelings of Petrarch, 
but in a more auspicious period."f 

* Loix et usages du temps de Charlemagne, ch. xv. 
f Literature of Europe, ch. i., n. 78. 

28 



446 



PERSONAL ATTAINMENTS. 



Alexander II., the pupil of the learned Lanfranc, did honor 
to his station by his learning, and showed his gratitude and 
esteem for his professor, by rising to embrace him, when, as 
metropolitan of Canterbury, he presented himself to do ho- 
mage. Lest the by-standers should be astonished at the de- 
parture from the ordinary rules of court etiquette, the Pope 
observed, that it was a scholar who greeted his master. 

The history of Nicholas Breakspere, an English boy, is full 
of interest. After his father had entered a monastery, the 
youth was wont to present himself at the convent-gate asking 
for bread : which led the father to chide him for neglecting to 
procure it by his industry. Stung by the reproach, he crossed 
the seas, and tried his fortune at a monastery of Regular Ca- 
nons in Gaul, where, by the performance of every humble 
office, he earned his support, and by his pleasing manners 
gained favor. Being received among the inmates, he applied 
himself to sacred studies with great success, and attained to 
offices of much distinction, until, at length, he was raised to 
the Apostolic throne, under the title of Adrian IV. 

Alexander III. was professor of sacred Scripture in the Uni- 
versity of Bologna before his promotion to the pontifical chair. 
Of the learning and vigorous intellect of Innocent III., it were 
superfluous to speak, since his letters and other writings fully 
attest them. John XX. was styled " a general clerk," because 
he was familiar with all the branches of learning which were 
then taught. He attained to special distinction in the science 
of medicine. Boniface VIII. was the most eminent jurist of 
his age. 

The early career of Benedict XI. was not unlike that of 
Adrian IV. Being of humble parentage, it was not without 
difficulty that he procured the facilities of learning : of which 
he soon availed himself to teach other youths the rudiments of 
education, that he might gain a subsistence, and have means 
of further advancement. He subsequently entered into the 
order of St. Dominic, and passed rapidly forward, until, by his 
persevering genius, he reached the goal of ecclesiastical pre- 
ferment. 

The surname of Fournier, that is, Baker, was given to a 
French boy, whose father followed that trade. The laudable 
ambition of the son led him to Paris, where, at the University, 
he bore away from youths of nobler birth, the rewards of lite- 



PERSONAL ATTAINMENTS. 



447 



rary merit. He afterwards wore the tiara under the name of 
Benedict XII. 

In the great schism which convulsed the West at the close 
of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth century, a man 
of high reputation for learning and sanctity was chosen in an 
assembly of cardinals and bishops at Pisa, as the fittest to heal 
the breach. He assumed the name of Alexander V. His 
early history is that of a beggar boy, in whose sparkling eye 
a Franciscan friar discovered the coruscations of genius. He 
proved worthy of his discerning patron by the success with 
which he cultivated sacred studies. 

Pius II. ranks high among his Italian countrymen as a 
scholar and historian. Taste, discernment, and laborious re- 
search gained for him this distinction. Sixtus IV., who is said 
to have been the son of a fisherman, acquired a familiarity 
with the Greek language, under the instruction of the cele- 
brated Bessarion. He had filled the chair of professor of 
philosophy in the most famous universities of Italy before he 
wore the triple crown. 

It is unnecessary to enumerate the many learned Pontiffs 
who, during the three last centuries, have adorned the Holy 
See. They form a bright galaxy, such as illumines no other 
throne. The literary qualifications of the whole series of 
Popes are in a high degree respectable, especially when they 
are considered in reference to the times in which they lived : 
but their services to literature were not limited to their per- 
sonal efforts. They were emphatically its patrons. 



CHAPTER II. 



MEASURES TO PROMOTE LEARNING. 

§ 1. Libraries. 

The diligence with which the Popes gathered books for the 
promotion of sacred studies, is truly admirable. From the 
number of quotations from the fathers given in the letter of 
Leo the Great to Leo Augustus, we perceive that there must 
have been a large collection of their writings at his command. 
St. Hilary is recorded to have enriched the Later an palace 
with two libraries. Stephen V., towards the close of the 
ninth century, gave books to the library of St. Paul's. From 
a letter of Lupus, Abbot of Ferrieres, to Benedict III., it ap- 
pears that Rome was considered a good place to obtain rare 
and valuable books. The abbot asks the Pope to send him a 
portion of the commentary of St. Jerom on the prophet Jere- 
miah, which was wanting in the libraries of France ; as also 
the books of Cicero de Oratore, the twelve books of the insti- 
tutions of Quintilian, and the commentary of Donatus on the 
comedies of Terentius. It appears from this request, that the 
monks of the ninth century could relish the beauties of the 
classical authors, and that the Pontiff was thought likely to 
afford facilities for studying them. Gerbert, who was after- 
wards Pope, at the close of the following age, in a letter to a 
friend, assures him that the desire of books was great in every 
city of Italy, and that a large number of persons were em- 
ployed in transcribing. Victor III., when abbot of Monte 
Cassino, occupied his monks in this useful labor, and sought 
after rare books that he might add them to his collection. 

The office of librarian of the Roman Church has, from very 
ancient times, been one of great distinction, usually confided 
to a cardinal. The immense Vatican library is the result of 
the successive efforts of the Popes, who never abandoned the 



MEASURES TO PROMOTE LEARNING. 



449 



great work of forming this literary treasure. Nicholas V. so 
far surpassed all his predecessors in his successful endeavors 
to collect manuscripts, that he is justly styled its founder. 
Sixtus IV. increased its treasures, and laid them open to the 
public. " At present the Vatican library contains 3,686 Greek, 
18,108 Latin, 726 Hebrew, 787 Arabic, 65 Persian, 64 Turk- 
ish, 459 Syriac, 71 Ethiopian, 18 Sclavonic, 22 Indian, 10 Chi- 
nese, 80 Coptic, 13 Armenian, and 2 Georgian manuscripts, 
amounting in all to 24,111, the finest collection in the world, 
which, with 25,000 duplicates, and 100,000 printed volumes, 
make a total of 149,494 volumes."* 

§ 2. Schools. 

The selection of the learned Theodore for the archiepisco- 
pal See of Canterbury, resulted in great literary advantages 
to England, no less than in spiritual utility. As a late elo- 
quent writer observes : " the pal ce of A rchbishop Theodore, 
and the monastery of Abbot Adrian became normal schools 
for all he kingdoms of the heptarchy. The fire of emulation 
which they enkindled, soon illuminated the entire land, ex- 
tending its humanizing influence from the cloisters to the 
fortress — castles of the nobility and to the courts of the royal 
princes. Even the Anglo-Saxon ladies became inflamed with 
the general enthusiasm for letters ; and their accomplishments 
and classic taste may well excite the surprise, if not the envy, 
of their fair descendants of the present age. ' They conversed 
with their absent friends,' says Dr. Lingard, 1 in the language 
of ancient Rome ; and frequently exchanged the labors of the 
distaff and the needle (in which they excelled), for the more 
pleasing and more eloquent beauties of the Latin poets.' "| 

When, in the middle of the eighth century, the lamp of learn- 
ing burned dimly in Italy, Stephen III. was wont to assemble 
around him, in the Lateran palace, the clergy of Rome, and 
to hold conferences with them on the Holy Scriptures, which 
he exhorted them to study, in order to be able to refute the 
sophisms of unbelievers. 

Eugene II., in a Roman Council held in the year 826, enact- 
ed several canons, which show his zeal to dissipate the igno- 

* Rome, Ancient and Modern, by Very Rev. Jeremiah Donovan, D.D., 
vol. ii., p. 491. 

f Rome as it was under Paganism, and as it became under the Popes. 



450 



MEASURES TO PROMOTE LEARNING. 



ranee which prevailed. Bishops were ordered to suspend 
from sacred functions, or, if necessary, to depose priests igno- 
rant of their duty ; and metropolitans were required to use 
similar severity towards their suffragans. Schools were to be 
opened in cathedral and parish churches, and wheresoever 
else they might be deemed necessary. " We have heard," 
says the Pontiff, " that in some places neither teachers are 
found, nor is any regard had to literary pursuits : wherefore, 
in all episcopal residences, and among the people subject to 
them, and in other places in which it may be necessary, let 
care and diligence be used by all means to appoint teachers 
and doctors who may assiduously teach letters and the liberal 
arts, and the holy doctrines, since the divine commandments 
are particularly manifested and declared in these things."* 
When this enactment had been in a great measure defeated 
by the general distaste for learning, Leo IV., in 853, contented 
himself with enjoining the study of the Scriptures and eccle- 
siastical office : "Although teachers of the liberal arts be 
usually scarce," he observes in a Roman Council, " let there 
be at least a professor of the divine Scripture, and instructors 
in the office of the Church."f There was a school of this 
kind in the Lateran palace, in which many who sat on St, 
Peter's chair had received their education. 

St. Gregory VII., in a Roman synod held in 1078, charged 
bishops to see that schools be opened in the churches subject 
to their jurisdiction. The third General Council of Lateran, 
under Alexander III., in 1179, insists on the necessity of learn- 
ing for bishops and priests, and orders the poor to be instruct- 
ed, for which purpose a master must be employed in each 
cathedral church, to teach them gratuitously ; it desires the 
same to be done in monasteries and other churches. No fee 
is to be received for license to teach, which must be granted 
on demand to every person who is duly qualified. In cathe- 
drals, a divine was to be employed in instructing the younger 
clergy in sacred Scripture. In the fourth Council of Lateran, 
held in 1215, by Innocent III., it was decreed that each bishop, 
with the concurrence of the chief clergy, should provide a 
Latin teacher for the cathedral. The same was to be done 
in all churches that possessed sufficient income to support the 
burden. The Scriptures were to be expounded to the clergy 



* Mansi, col. cone, t. xiv., col. 1008, can. xxxiv. f Ibidem, col. 1014. 



MEASURES TO PROMOTE LEARNING. 



451 



and laity by a divine devoted to this purpose. These various 
measures, decreed from time to time, and enforced with great- 
er or less success, are unequivocal evidences of the value 
which was always attached by the Popes to learning, espe- 
cially to the study of the Scriptures. 

In those ages, the Pope only was considered competent to 
bestow literary privileges, since civil governments concerned 
themselves only with matters regarding the public peace and 
order. Hence all the universities of Spain and France, as 
well as Italy, relied on some papal document for the extent of 
their prerogatives. One of the chief concessions was, that 
the students might enjoy the revenues of a Church benefice, 
without residing at the place where it was situated, when his 
absence was occasioned by his studies at a University. Ano- 
ther exempted them from the ordinary tribunals, and assigned 
special judges for their trial, in case they were accused of 
misconduct. Their number is almost incredible. Thousands 
crowded the halls of the university of Paris, encouraged by 
the advantages which it offered, through the favor of the 
Pontiffs. The universities of Tolosa and Valentia, in Spain, 
proudly traced their privileges to the same source ; and Lis- 
bon acknowledged herself indebted for her university to pon- 
tifical munificence. Italy, at that period, wore a literary crown 
studded with many bright gems. The ancient schools of Pisa, 
in which theology and canon law were taught in 903, rose to 
the dignity of a university. Rome, Milan, Pavia, and Flo- 
rence, each had a similar institution. At Fermo, a university 
was opened by Boniface VIII. ; at Perugia by Clement V. ; 
and at Ferrara by the ninth Boniface. The university of 
Naples had the honor of the early training of St. Thomas 
Aquinas, who completed his course at Paris. Padua for a time 
rivalled Bologna, which, with her celebrated professors, and 
ten thousand scholars, enjoyed, for the most part, an undis- 
puted precedency in the republic of letters. The multiplica- 
tion of literary institutions, filled with crowds of eager stu- 
dents, is an incontrovertible proof of a high esteem of learn- 
ing, which was plainly the result of the reiterated efforts of 
successive Pontiffs. The light which long glimmered, and 
seemed almost extinct, was kindled anew by their breath, 
until it grew into a flame, illumining the nations that long 
had sat in darkness. 



CHAPTER III. 



MEDIAEVAL STUDIES. 

To some it has appeared that the universities were ill calcu- 
lated to promote solid learning, and served only for the vain 
subtleties of scholastic disputation. The fact, however, is, 
that they rendered immense service to religion, and exercised 
the reasoning faculties in such a manner as to prepare the 
human mind for the deeper investigations of after-times, when 
the treasures of antiquity were laid open. 

Divinity was not originally studied in most of the universi- 
ties, Paris for a long time having enjoyed the special privilege 
of public lectures on that subject. The youth of Italy did not 
hesitate to cross the Alps to hear the far-famed professors of 
that city descant on the sentences of Peter Lombard, or, at a 
later period, explain the summary of the Angelic Doctor. 
Bologna, however, and other universities, were afterwards al- 
towed to teach the same sublime science, which Clement VI. 
aptly designates : studium sacrce pagince, the study of sacred 
Scripture. The holy volume was expounded to eager youth 
by men, who, although not skilled in the original languages, 
or familiar with classic lore, were, nevertheless, competent to 
teach accurately the revealed doctrines, and to guard against 
theological errors. Whoever will take the pains to peruse 
the summary of St. Thomas Aquinas, who flourished in the 
middle of the thirteenth century, will not consider the scho- 
lastic study of divinity a mere exercise of vain dialectics. 
The whole counsel of God, as manifested and developed in the 
teaching of the Church, is there declared and sustained, chiefly 
by the authority of sacred Scripture, although occasionally 
illustrated by some testimony of ancient Christian writers. 
Reason herself is introduced as the handmaid of revelation. 
The difficulties which the pride of man presents to the belief 



MEDIEVAL STUDIES. 



453 



of divine truth, are not artfully evaded : they are dissipated 
by a powerful logic, based on divine authority. The search- 
ing mind of the Angelic Doctor ventured far beyond the posi- 
tive doctrine of the Church, and indulged in probable conjec- 
tures, which some may brand as vain speculations, but which 
certainly are not less profitable than many of the disquisitions 
of men of science in later times. It was his privilege to see, 
almost with the clearness of intuition, the whole revealed 
doctrine, and to comprehend and combine the sacred oracles, 
and the teachings of the ancient fathers, but especially to fix 
his gaze on the Divinity with a steadiness scarcely before 
granted to an uninspired mortal. In the language of the 
schools, he was as an angel admitted to view the glory of the 
Deity, and appointed to unfold to men His counsels. Recent 
Anglican writers have termed him " the great prophet of the 
Church," since his mind seems to have grasped in its vision 
the secrets of futurity, namely, the objections which sectaries 
in after ages would make to the divine doctrines. The Popes, 
in commending his summary, showed not only their zeal for 
accurate and precise views of doctrine, bat their just appre- 
ciation of the admirable method and deep reasoning of this 
most eminent theologian. " The summa Theologiae," says a 
writer in the British Critic, " is a mighty synthesis, in which 
Catholic doctrine is bound together in one consistent whole." 
" It was reserved for St. Thomas Aquinas to survey at one 
glance the whole of Christian truth as it had been developed 
in former ages, and to point out the relative bearings of the 
mighty mysteries to each other."* " That the scholastic the- 
ology shall have been so commonly regarded among us, not 
merely as less interesting than physics, but as a sort of elabo- 
rate baby-house, as a mere relic of antiquarian barbarism, 
this is one of those instances of matchless ignorance, folly 
and impudence, abounding in the present day, the very exist- 
ence of which future ages will be tempted to discredit."f 

I cannot vindicate with the same confidence the homage 
rendered to Aristotle by the schools of the middle ages ; yet, 
although blind deference for the dicta of the Stagyrite may 
have prevented the advances of science, it cannot be thought 
that the study of his works, which are learned and profound, 

* Number lxv., p. 110, 111. f Number lxviii., p. 405. 



454 



MEDIEVAL STUDIES. 



was in itself favorable to mental inertness. Urban IV. de- 
served well of mankind in laboring to revive philosophy, which 
for ages had been neglected. He enjoined on St. Thomas 
Aquinas to write commentaries on Aristotle, that the student of 
his works might not imbibe any error contrary to the doctrine 
of the sublime Master of Christians. The schools that ad- 
mitted his authority, corrected his ethics by the maxims of the 
Gospel, and failed not to adore the Christian mysteries, not- 
withstanding the abstruseness, or errors, of his metaphysical 
views. His sway, however, was that of an absolute monarch, 
in the realms of natural science. He was heard as an oracle, 
when he should only have been looked on as a guide ; and 
the student, who should have sought to penetrate further into 
the recesses of nature, fancied he had reached the goal, 
when he had understood what Aristotle had revealed of her 
secrets. 

It might be a matter of just exultation, that this excessive 
regard for individual authority has given place to a spirit of 
inquiry, which assumes nothing, and rests only on demonstra- 
tion and experience, had not scepticism succeeded faith ; the 
temerity of man extending the philosophic doubt to the very 
axioms of natural right, and to mysteries divinely revealed. 
A heathenish system, which abstracts from the fact that God 
has spoken, and with the glimmering light of reason, scruti- 
nizes the depths of His nature and works, has taken the place 
of the old philosophy, and men fancy themselves enlightened 
and intellectual in proportion as they are destitute of the cer- 
tain conviction of revealed truth. To be a philosopher in the 
modern acceptation of the term, it is necessary to doubt of the 
spirituality and immortality of the soul ; or to hold them only 
as far as reason renders them probable. The whole structure 
of religion is placed by many on the sandy foundation of na- 
tural reason, unassisted and unenlightened. " One cause," 
says the British Critic, " why we do not enter into the scholas- 
tic philosophy is, that our reason is so little accustomed to 
bow to faith, that we have reduced ourselves to the condition 
of doubt."* 

Whatever may be thought of the philosophy of the middle 
ages, we should not forget that the great science of legisla- 



* Number lxv., p. 143. 



MEDIAEVAL STUDIES. 



455 



tion, both ecclesiastical and civil, was then effectually culti- 
vated and promoted. The Popes, by their decrees on various 
cases submitted to their judgment, and the Councils of Bishops., 
combining their wisdom to remedy prevailing disorders and 
promote piety, had gradually formed a vast code of laws, of 
which collections had been made by various persons in the 
East and West ; but it was reserved to Gratian, a Benedictine 
monk, in the middle of the twelfth century, to classify them, 
and adapt them to the use of students. This decree of Gra- 
tian, as it has been rather strangely styled, was designed es- 
pecially for the university of Bologna, to which the Popes, 
likewise, were thenceforward accustomed to address the sub- 
sequent collections. Those only who are unacquainted with 
the Canon Law, as the ecclesiastical code is styled, can speak 
disparagingly of it. The Scripture is its great foundation, the 
fathers of the Church have furnished many of its axioms, and 
its rules are the fruits of the experience of ages. It com- 
bines persuasion with authority, equity with law, and a due 
regard for forms with an inviolable respect for justice and 
right. It throws its shield over the humblest individuals, and 
bears aloft its mace to awe the proud. It tempers the exer- 
cise of power by the spirit of charity, sustains dignity without 
fostering pride, and in the reat variety of orders and offices, 
throughout the Universal Church, presents a compact hierar- 
chy, bound together by mysterious ties in indivisible unity. 
By encouraging this study, it is manifest that the Popes proved 
themselves the friends of order and justice, and took from the 
exercise of ecclesiastical authority all appearance of arbitrary 
power. 

It was the wish and endeavor of several Popes to introduce 
into the universities the study of the Greek and Oriental lan- 
guages. Long before the establishment of these institutions, 
they had labored to promote the study of Greek, in order more 
effectually to knit together the two great portions of the 
Church. Paul I., about the year 766, erected a monastery for 
monks of the Greek rite. Stephen IV. (or V.) in 816, founded 
for them the monastery of St. Praxedes : and Leo IV. intro- 
duced them into the monastery of St. Stephen. Mills bears 
testimony to the efforts of Honorius IV., after the example of 
his predecessors, to promote the study of the Oriental tongues : 
"In the year 1285, Pope Honorius IV., in his design to convert 



456 MEDIAEVAL STUDIES. 

the Saracens to Christianity, wished to establish schools at 
Paris for the tuition of people in the Arabic and other Oriental 
languages, agreeably to the intentions of his predecessors. 
The Council of Vienne, in 1312, recommended the conversion 
of the infidels, and the re-establishment of schools, as the way 
to recover the Holy Land. It was accordingly ordered that 
there should be professors of the Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Ara- 
bic tongues in Rome, Paris, Oxford, Bologna, and Salamanca : 
and that the learned should translate into Latin the best Ara- 
bic books."* Mills, indeed, states that these measures were 
not effectually followed up ; but this detracts nothing from the 
merit of the Popes, who devised them, and but for the difficul- 
ties of the times, would have urged their execution. " The 
Roman Pontiffs/' as Tiraboschi observes, " used every possible 
means to rescue men from ignorance, and probably would 
have done much more, had the sad state of the times allowed 
it, which was the cause of their not deriving that abundant 
fruit from their efforts, which in better times they might have 
reaped."f 

The partial revival of learning, as well as the great advances 
towards social order, in the eleventh and succeeding centuries, 
may be traced to the efforts of the Popes, who sought, in every 
way possible, to establish law and order, and to promote every 
study that could improve the mind. This is virtually admit- 
ted by Hallam, who ascribes to Italy this intellectual and so- 
cial renovation, which was in reality their work. " It may be 
said with some truth," he remarks, " that Italy supplied the 
fire, from which other nations in this first, as afterwards in the 
second sera of the revival of letters, lighted their own torches. 
Lanfranc, Anselm, Peter Lombard, the founder of systematic 
theology, in the twelfth century, Irnerius, the restorer of juris- 
prudence, Gratian, the author of the first compilation of canon 
law, the school of Salerno, that guided medical art in all 
countries, the first great work that makes an epoch in anato- 
my, are as truly and exclusively the boast of Italy, as the re- 
storation of Greek liter ture, and of classical taste in the fif- 
teenth century."J The same writer justly denies that in the 

* History of the Crusades, ch. xv., p. 211. Note, 
f Storia della Letteratura Italiana, t. iv., 1. i., p. 36. 
| Literature of Europe, ch. i., n. 81, vol. i. 



MEDIAEVAL STUDIES. 



457 



thirteenth century learning declined : " In a general view," he 
says, " the thirteenth century was an age of activity and ardor, 
though not in every respect the best directed. The fertility of 
the modern languages in versification ; the creation, we may 
almost say, of Italian and English in this period ; the great 
concourse of students to the universities ; the acute, and some- 
times profound, reasoning of the scholastic philosophy, which 
was now in its most palmy state ; the accumulation of know- 
ledge, whether derived from original research or from Arabian 
sources of information, which we find in the geometers, the 
physicians, the natural philosophers of Europe ; are sufficient 
to repel the charge of having fallen back or even remained 
altogether stationary, in comparison with the preceding cen- 
tury."* 



* Literature of Europe, ch, i., iu 86. 



CHAPTER IV. 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 

" Dante and Petrarch," Hallam observes, " are, as it were, the 
morning stars of our modern literature." The taste of the Ita- 
lians for the sublime inspirations of poetry was manifested on 
the appearance of the Divina Commedia, which was soon 
adopted as a text-book in the Italian universities ; men of sta- 
tion and age, as well as the young, crowding the halls where 
learned professors revealed the deep thoughts of the divine 
poet. The same ardor was manifested in the following cen- 
tury. Four hundred hearers, most of them of high station and 
senatorial rank, attended the class of Francis Filelfo at Flo- 
rence, where he explained Dante, in the time of Eugene IV., 
who invited him to his court, to reward his learning and ge- 
nius. The eagerness of the Pontiff to honor the professor 
proves his liberal encouragement of the study, although Dante 
had treated some of his predecessors with severity. Nicholas 
V., on hearing of the arrival of Filelfo at Rome, on his way to 
Naples, sent for him, and pressed him to accept a present of 
five hundred ducats for the expenses of his journey. " Pe- 
trarch," says Ha] lam, " formed a school of poetry, which, though 
no disciple comparable to himself came out of it, gave a cha- 
racter to the taste of his country. He gave purity, elegance, 
and even stability to the Italian language, — and none have 
denied him the honor of having restored a true feeling of clas- 
sical antiquity in Italy, and consequently in Europe."* Such 
was the man on whom the laurel crown was bestowed in the 
Roman capitol in the year 1341. Clement VI. and Urban V. 
gave him marks of their favor, and invited him to Avignon. 
Gregory XL offered him, in his declining age, whatever could 
relieve or solace him. This is the more remarkable, as the 



* Literature of Europe, ch. i., n. 46. 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 



459 



poet was known to have satirized the papal court ; and shows 
that genius had charms for the Popes, which made them view 
its aberrations with indulgence. 

The favor shown to poets is manifest from many facts. Ni- 
cholas V., with his own hands, placed the poet's crown on Be- 
nedict of Cesena ; and Callistus III., in a Brief, designated 
Nicholas Perotti " poet laureat," and his secretary. The union 
of the office of papal secretary with the profession of poet be- 
came a matter so usual, that poetry seemed to be a title, or 
qualification, for this honorable employment. Music gained 
the ear of the Popes even in an unrefined age, and Guy of 
Arezzo, in the eleventh century, had scarcely invented the 
gamut, when John XIX. insisted that he should come to 
Rome to teach the clergy. Among the endowments of various 
Popes their knowledge of sacred music is mentioned, which, 
whatever maybe thought of its imperfection, denotes the taste 
and diligence of those who cultivated it. 

History was always deemed an important study, and exer- 
cised the diligence of ecclesiastics, even when, from the want 
of documents and critical light, they were unable to perform 
the task with success. The chroniclers of the middle ages are 
not without their claims on our gratitude, for having recorded 
the events of their own times, and preserved much of the his- 
tory of the past, although sometimes disfigured by fables. As 
soon as the light of literature beamed anew on the world, the 
Popes drew around them men of deep research and accurate 
judgment, who labored to recover the hidden treasures of past 
ages, and rescue them from the superincumbent mass of fic- 
tion. The libraries were thrown open to their researches ; 
coins, medals, vases, inscriptions, statues, and other monu- 
ments of antiquity, were dug from the earth, or gathered from 
remote regions, at the expense of the Pontiffs, and every en- 
couragement was given to the curious and diligent student, in 
his efforts to retrace the progress of the human race, and to 
discover the manners and customs, laws and polity of the dif- 
ferent nations of antiquity. Eugene IV. gave to Cyriacus of 
Ancona, in his researches, every facility which the most un- 
bounded munificence could afford. Biondo Flavio, the histo- 
rian, was secretary of the same Pontiff, and of three of his 
successors. " His long residence at Rome inspired him with 
the desire and gave him the opportunity of describing her im- 



460 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 



perial ruins. In a work, dedicated to Eugenius IV., who died 
in 1447, but not printed till 1471, entitled " Romce Instauratce 
libri tres,'' he describes, examines, and explains, by the testi- 
mony of ancient authors, the numerous monuments of Rome. 
In another, " Romce Triumphantis libri decern" printed about 
1472, he treats of the government, laws, religion, ceremonies, 
military discipline, and other antiquities of the republic."* 
Annius of Viterbo, who, although charged with literary im- 
posture, must be acknowledged to have shed much light on the 
Egyptian, Chaldean, and Tuscan antiquities, was made Master 
of the sacred Palace, by Alexander VI., who, by this and other 
acts, proved that he was not incapable of appreciating literary 
merit. Pius II. led the way in the reform of historical narra- 
tive ; and in the history of his own times gave proof of great 
discernment, deep reflection, and elegant taste. 

Eloquence and Belles Lettres were cultivated in the fif- 
teenth century, under the patronage of the Popes, who invited 
to their court the most eminent professors. George of Trebi- 
zond was called to Rome by Eugene IV.; and Laurentius 
Valla received the like honorable invitation from Nicholas V. 
Cardinals and other illustrious strangers thronged the halls of 
the university of Florence, to hear Charles Marsuppini descant 
on the art of speaking. Hermolaus Barbaro, John Pico de la 
Mirandula, and other illustrious men of this age, prove that 
the successful cultivation of Belles Lettres was not the peculiar 
privilege of the sixteenth century. " The Pope nominated 
Hermolaus to the greatest post in the Venetian Church, the 
patriarchate of Aquileja."f 

The revival of letters was by more than a hundred years 
anterior to the so-called Reformation, which was highly inju- 
rious to literature. The Tuscans, by their innate genius, had 
succeeded in cultivating letters long before the Greeks sought 
refuge in Italy. " Florence was already another Athens, and 
among the orators that came on the part of the various cities 
of Italy to address Boniface VIII., on his elevation, eighteen 
were Florentines. We see, then, that the revival of the arts 
is not owing to the refugees from Constantinople. The Greeks 
could teach Greek only to the Italians." J " It is probable," 

* Hallam, Literature of Europe, 1471-1480, vol. i., ch. iii., n. 48. 
f Ibid., n. 116. J Essai, t. ii., ch. lxxviii. 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 



461 



says Hallam, " that both the principles of this great founder of 
the Reformation, (Luther,) and the natural tendency of so in- 
tense an application to theological controversy, checked for a 
time the progress of philological and philosophical literature 
on this side of the Alps."* " Erasmus, after he had become 
exasperated with the reformers, repeatedly charges them with 
ruining literature."! Voltaire says : " the religious disputes 
which agitated the minds of men in Germany, in the North, 
in France, and in England, retarded the progress of reason, in- 
stead of accelerating it." J 

John Malpaghino, who, towards the end of the fourteenth 
century, taught Latin at Padua and Florence, and Gasparin 
of Barziza, his disciple, gave the example of a pure and ele- 
gant style. " This," says Hallam, " is the proper aera of the 
revival of letters, and nearly coincides with the beginning of 
the fifteenth century."§ " It was from Italy that the light of 
philological learning spread over Europe. "j| Petrarch, who 
had loved Malpaghino as a son, had applied himself for a time 
to Greek, but not quite successfully. Boccacio had succeeded 
somewhat better in that study, which in the following cen- 
tury became so general, that scarcely an aspirant to the repu- 
tation of learning was unacquainted with this language. It 
is not for me to determine the causes which concurred to pro- 
duce the enthusiasm with which this study was pursued ; but 
I may be permitted to give the Popes their share of praise for 
having encouraged it, by the honors which they bestowed on 
learned Greeks, and on others who cultivated the language 
with success. Chrysoloras, after having discharged the high 
office of ambassador from the Greek emperor to the Western 
powers, yielded to the solicitations of many to become profes- 
sor of Greek at Florence, and afterwards in various other Ita- 
lian universities. He was chosen by John XXIII. as his ambas- 
sador to the Council of Constance. Bessarion, raised by Euge- 
nius IV. to the purple, was thus rewarded for his zeal in ac- 
complishing the reunion of the Greeks with the Latins at Flo- 
rence ; but his solid and elegant learning strengthened his 
claims to this honorable distinction, and his presence at Rome, 

* Hallam, Literature of Europe, 1471-1480, vol. i., ch. iv., n. 61. 
t Ibid., Note. f Essai sur l'Histoire, t. iii., ch. cxrii. 

§ Hallam, Literature of Europe, 1471-1480, vol. i-, ch. i., n. 94. 
Ibid., n. 24. 

29 



462 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 



where, in 1470, he published a work in defence of the Platonic 
philosophy, became an incentive to Greek studies. Aurispa, a 
Sicilian, who was eminent in Greek literature, was made se- 
cretary of Eugenius ; and Manetti, a Florentine, who spoke 
Greek and Hebrew, with almost the same facility as his ver- 
nacular tongue, was welcomed to Rome, raised to high honors, 
and provided with a pension of five hundred golden crowns. 
Angelo Puliziano, the successful imitator of the Greek and La- 
tin classics, was honored by Innocent VIII. with a letter full of 
esteem and affection, and rewarded with a gift of two hun- 
dred crowns for his translation of Herodian. Domizio Calde- 
rino, when only twenty-four years of age, was invited by Paul 
II. to Rome to profess Greek, in which he had already attain- 
ed eminence ; and was subsequently promoted to the office 
of secretary by Sixtus IV. It were endless to enumerate in- 
stances of papal patronage, by which this study was effectually 
fostered ; but I shall note a fact which shows at once the favor 
of the Popes, and the success with which the study was pursu- 
ed. Ippolita Sforza, daughter of the duke of Milan, and after- 
wards wife of the king of Naples, delivered, in 1456, a Greek 
oration at Mantua, in the presence of Pius II. This accom- 
plished lady was the representative of a considerable class ; 
who united with the usual graces of the sex a thirst for clas- 
sic literature, and acquired an astonishing familiarity with the 
works of the Greek authors. The Pontiff was capable of ap- 
preciating such literary excellence. 

Hallam, after having traced in outline the form of European 
literature, as it existed in the middle ages, and in the first 
forty years of the fifteenth century, observes : " The result 
must be to convince us of our great obligations to Italy for 
her renewal of classical learning. What might have been 
the intellectual progress of Europe if she never had gone back 
to the fountains of Greek and Roman genius, it is impossible 
to determine ; certainly nothing in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries gave prospect of a very abundant harvest. It would 
be difficult to find any man of high reputation in modern 
times, who has not reaped benefit, directly or through others, 
from the revival of ancient learning. We have the greatest 
reason to doubt whether, without the Italians of these ages, 
it would ever have occurred."* 

* Literature of Europe, ch. ii., n. 49. 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 



463 



It cannot be doubted that the Popes eminently deserve this 
praise. Hallam himself testifies that Eugenius IV. patron- 
ized learning : and he does ample justice to the claims of 
Nicholas V. on the gratitude of the literary world. " Let- 
ters," he says, " had no patron so important as Nicholas V. 
(Thomas of Sarzana), who became Pope in 1447: nor has 
any later occupant of that chair, without excepting Leo X., 
deserved equal praise as an encourager of learning. Nicho- 
las founded the Vatican library, and left it, at his death in 
1455, enriched with 5000 volumes ; a treasure far exceeding 
that of any other collection in Europe. Every scholar who 
needed maintenance, which was of course the common case, 
found it at the court of Rome."* The munificence of the 
Pontiff amply rewarded the literary labors of the many whom 
he drew around him. Five hundred golden crowns were be- 
stowed by him on Valla for his translation of Thucydides ; 
1500 crowns were the recompense of Guarino for his version 
of the first ten books of the geography of Strabo. Manu- 
scripts were purchased at high prices, and honor and wealth 
were held forth to all who chose to enrich the republic of 
letters by the contribution of rare books, or successful imi- 
tations of the ancients. 

Alexander VI. deserved well of literature, for establish- 
ing, on a large scale, the Roman gymnasium, which Eu- 
gene IV. had commenced, and promoting and honoring 
learned men. Julius II. was an active patron of painting and 
the fine arts: but the boundless munificeiiop of Leo X. to the 
lovers of the arts, votaries of the Muses, and cultivators of 
polite literature, eclipsed all that his predecessors had done, 
and won for him the admiration of succeeding ages. I leave 
to others to describe the reunion of men of genius at the cele- 
brated papal suppers, where the feast of intellect far sur- 
passed the richness of the banquet, and fancy soared aloft to 
delight the guests by her sublime inspirations. The Acade- 
mies of literary men, so frequent in " Leo's golden reign," on 
the banks of the Tiber, in the circus maximus, or in some of 
the magnificent villas which adorn the eternal city, brought to 
mind the groves of the Grecian Academus, where Plato de- 
scanted on divine and human things, and the Lyceum, where 

* Literature of Europe, vol. i., ch. iii., n. 2. 



464 REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 

Aristotle perambulated whilst delivering his sublime lessons. 
The illuminated halls, in which the gravest prelates were 
seen amidst the fascinated crowds, listening to the poet of 
Arezzo, showed the keen sensibility of the Italian mind to the 
beauties of imagination. Vida, who sang in strains not un- 
like those of Virgil, and Ariosto, the prince of romantic poets, 
charmed Leo, and the age, by the sublime and varied concep- 
tions of their minds. Bembo and Sadolet, his secretaries, in 
the papal documents revived the chaste elegance of the Au- 
gustan age. The artist who dug from the earth some statue, 
the work of an ancient master, — the humanist who recover- 
ed a manuscript of a classic author, — all the literati and 
virtuosi of every class received from the Pontiff rewards pro- 
portioned to their merit, and worthy of his munificence. But 
it were wrong to suppose that the patronage of elegant litera- 
ture was peculiar to Leo, since the praise must be shared 
with his predecessors, and with those who succeeded him. 
" Italy," says Hallam, " the genial soil where the literature of 
antiquity had been first cultivated, still retained her superior- 
ity in the fine perception of its beauties, and in the power of 
retracing them by spirited imitation. It was the land of taste 
and sensibility ; never surely more so than in the age of Raf- 
faelle as well as Ariosto. — If the successors of Leo X. did not 
attain so splendid a name, they were, perhaps, after the short 
reign of Adrian VI., which, if we may believe the Italian wri- 
ters, seemed to threaten an absolute return of barbarism, not 
less munificent or sedulous in encouraging polite and useful 
letters."* 

Throughout the sixteenth century Oriental scholars of con- 
siderable reputation were found among the Italian clergy. 
Even high dignitaries assiduously applied to the study of He- 
brew, Arabic, and Chaldaic, among whom I may mention 
Frederick Borromeo, who was raised to the dignity of cardi- 
nal by Sixtus V. Gavanti, the famous rubricist, was familiar 
with Hebrew, in which language he addressed this cardinal, 
on occasion of his taking possession of his archdiocese. Paul 
V., in 1610, issued a decree requiring the religious orders to 
have a professor of Greek and Hebrew in all their institu- 
tions, and in the chief schools a professor of Arabic. Urban 

* Literature of Europe, vol. i., ch. v., i. 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 



465 



VIIL was familiar with Greek and Hebrew, and invited seve- 
ral learned Oriental scholars, among whom was Abraham 
Ecchellensis, to settle at Rome. 

History, a department in which the Italians excel, continued 
to receive liberal encouragement from the Popes. Charles 
Sigonio, the great historian of the Western empire, was highly 
honored by Pius V. Onuphrius Panvinio, an Augustinian 
friar, published at Rome valuable works, in which he re-ex- 
amined the consulares fasti, already arranged by Sigonio, and 
otherwise illustrated chronology, as connected with history. 
Possevino, a Jesuit, who added much to the stores of historic 
knowledge, was made Papal nuncio by Gregory XIII., to the 
court of Sweden, and afterwards to Russia. Cardinal Benti- 
voglio, the historian of the civil wars of Flanders, according 
to the judgment of Hallam, ranks as a writer among the very 
first of his age. Antiquarians received like patronage. An- 
geloni, who collected and illustrated ancient medals with great 
industry, was declared Antiquarian of Rome by Clement X. 
Falconieri, who wrote on the antiquities of Anzio, was raised 
to the episcopacy by Clement XI. Fabretti, the most cele- 
brated of this honorable class, whose constant researches 
among caverns and ancient monuments are said to have made 
his horse instinctively stop at the approach to some ruin or 
cave, was raised to office by Alexander VIIL and Innocent 
XII. This province, according to the remark of Hallam, is 
justly claimed by Italy as her own.* 

Genius instinctively sought Rome, which inspired the poet 
with his loftiest strains, and was to him a haven in which he 
might rest securely from the storms of life. Torquatus Tasso, 
whose muse rivals that of Homer, twice repaired thither, 
where he closed his career, leaving the world astounded at 
the sublimity of his flights, and the illusions of his disordered 
imagination. Urban VIIL and Alexander VII. were them- 
selves votaries of the muses. 

We need not furnish more recent instances of the claims of 
the Popes to the gratitude of the learned world for their effec- 
tual patronage of Belles Lettres, and of all those studies 
which contribute to refinement and intellectual enjoyment. It 
is a mistake to suppose that Italy is not still the land of genius, 



* Literature of Europe, vol. iv., from 1650 to 1670, ch. i., n. 21. 



466 



REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 



and of knowledge. "Whatever she possesses, she owes to the 
benign influence of the Pontiffs. Their smiles have cheered 
the adventurous youth in his struggle to mount the rugged 
hill of science, their purse has supplied his wants, and they 
have been ever ready to bestow the most distinguished honors 
on the successful aspirant. Hallam truly observes, that genius 
and erudition have always been honored in Italy ; and pays a 
tribute of praise to the spirit breathed in the works of Italians 
during the last fifty years, which shows that they are not un- 
worthy of their sires. Byron, in many places, has rendered 
homage to the ancient glory of Rome, and sometimes avowed 
her actual literary pre-eminence, notwithstanding the decay 
of her earthly splendor. 

" Italia ! too, Italia ! looking on thee, 
Full flashes on the soul the light of ages ; 

still 

The fount at which the panting mind assuages 
Her thirst of knowledge, quaffing there her fill, 
Flows from the eternal source of Rome's imperial hill."* 



* Childe Harold, canto iii., ex. 



CHAPTER V. 



SCIENCE. 

§ 1. Medicine. 

The patronage of the Popes was not confined to the study of 
languages, or of antiquity ; it embraced the useful sciences. 
Even in the middle ages these were not wholly neglected in 
the universities, which must necessarily share with their pa- 
trons the praise of whatever was taught by their professors. 
Medicine, long before it received the necessary attention in 
most countries, was a favorite study at Salerno, and- was sub- 
sequently cultivated in the universities generally, among 
which Montpelier acquired high celebrity in this respect. The 
clergy and monks were among its most diligent students, until 
it became necessary to confine them to the duties more strict- 
ly belonging to their state of life. Hallam bears honorable 
testimony to the successful cultivation of medical science in 
the Italian universities. " Nicholas Leonicenus, who became 
professor at Ferrara, before 1470, was the first restorer of the 
Hippocratic method of practice. He lived to a very advanced 
age, and was the first translator of Galen from the Greek."* 
" In the science of anatomy, an epoch was made by the trea- 
tise of Mundinus, a professor of Bologna, who died in 1326. 
It is entitled, i Anatome Omnium Corporis Interiorum Mem- 
brorum.' This book had one great advantage over those of 
Galen, that it was founded on the actual anatomy of the hu- 
man body." — " His treatise was long the text-book of the 
Italian universities."! " The first book upon anatomy, since 
that of Mundinus, was by Zerbi of Verona, who taught in 
the university of Padua in 1495. — The germ of discoveries 
that have crowned later anatomists with glory, is sometimes 
perceptible in Zerbi ; among others, that of the Fallopian 
tubes."J 

* Hallam, Literature of Europe, ch. ix., n. 9. f Ibidem, ch. ii., n. 37. 
% Ibidem, ch. iii., n. 17. 



468 



SCIENCE. 



In the sixteenth century medical science received still higher 
encouragement. Leo X. rewarded with his usual munificence 
the translation of the medical works of Hippocrates, by Mark 
Fabius Calvi, of Ravenna ; and in noticing the embassy sent 
by the citizens of Padua, he designated with special honor Je- 
rom Accorambuoni, as " an excellent physician." The honor 
of Roman citizenship was bestowed, in 1563, on Mercuriale, a 
native of Padua, to reward his eminence in the medical sci- 
ence. Berengario de Carpi, the great anatomist, was urged 
by Clement VII. to fix his residence at Rome. Eustachius, 
eminent likewise in the science of anatomy, was professor in 
the Sapienza, which Alexander VII. furnished with an anato- 
mical theatre. Many most distinguished physicians and ana- 
tomists were either professors in that university, or were em- 
ployed in the immediate service of the Popes. Vesalius, a Bel- 
gian, who was professor at Padua, bore away the palm in ana- 
tomical science, in the sixteenth century ; but Italy, which was 
the chief theatre of his scientific displays, came well nigh con- 
ferring it on her own sons. " Few sciences," says Hallam, 
" were so successfully pursued in this period as that of anato- 
my. If it was impossible to snatch from Vesalius the pre-emi- 
nent glory that belongs to him as almost its creator, it might 
still be said, that two men now appeared who, had they lived 
earlier, would probably have gone as far, and who, by coming 
later, were enabled to go beyond him. These were Fallopius 
and Eustachius."* — " The best physicians of the century were 
either Italian or French."! 

The seventeenth century presents many instances of the 
encouragement given by the Popes to the study of medicine 
and anatomy. Malpighi was invited to Rome by Innocent XII. 
to be pontifical physician. The services rendered by him to 
science may best be told in the words of Hallam : " Malpighi 
was the first who employed good microscopes in anatomy, and 
thus revealed the secrets, we may say, of an invisible world, 
which Leuwenhoek afterwards, probably using still better in- 
struments, explored with surprising success. To Malpighi an- 
atomists owe their knowledge of the structure of the lungs."J 

The Medical legal questions, published by Paul Zacchia, phy- 

* Literature of Europe, vol. ii., ch. viii., n. 39. f Ibidem, n. 42. 
% Ibidem, vol. iv., ch. viii., n. 37. 



SCIENCE. 



469 



sician of Innocent X., are still highly esteemed for the exact 
specifications in anatomy which it contains. Many other me- 
dical works were published under the special patronage of the 
Popes. Lancisi, a Roman physician, gave his splendid medi- 
cal library to the hospital of Santo Spirito, on condition that 
it should be for the general use of the profession. Italy re- 
tained her pre-eminence in this science. " The Italians," says 
Hallam, " were still renowned in medicine."* 

In connection with this science, we may be allowed to men- 
tion the encouragement given to natural history and botany. 
Natural history was cultivated, under Leo X. and Adrian VI., 
by Mattioli, who published a work of great celebrity on herbs, 
plants, flowers, and animals. Aldovrandi, professor of simples 
at Bologna, in a work published in 1574, which has received 
praise, although qualified, from Buffon, an excellent judge, 
treated at large of birds, insects, fishes, quadrupeds, and all 
kinds of animals, as also of metals and of trees. The Vatican 
Museum, in the time of St. Pius V., contained a vast collection 
of minerals, and of natural curiosities, which were described 
by Mercati, the guardian of it, in a work styled " Metallothe- 
ca," which was published long afterwards, with splendid en- 
gravings, at the expense of Clement XI. Botany, especially in 
its connexion with medicine, was a favorite study in Italy. 
Medical botany was taught in the Roman University under 
Pius V., and the Sapienza was furnished with a botanic gar- 
den by Alexander VII. 

§ 2. Astronomy. 

It is important that the reader should be made sensible how 
much the science of astronomy owes to the fostering patronage 
of the Pontiffs, especially as in some instances they may, at 
first sight, appear to have opposed its progress. I shall at 
once offer an explanation of the first fact that gives a coloring 
to this charge. It occurred before the middle of the eighth 
century. 

St. Gregory II., on being informed that the priest Virgil, an 
Irishman, taught that there is another world, and other men 
under the earth, another sun, and moon, directed Boniface to 
ascertain the fact, and if true to depose him from the priest- 



* Literature of Europe, vol. iv., ch. viii., n. 22. 



470 



SCIENCE. 



hood. It is not clear that the opinion of Virgil was the same 
as that which has since been found to be correct, namely, that 
antipodes exist. The Pope seems to have understood him as 
asserting the existence of a race of men in another world, al- 
together distinct from this, not derived from Adam, from whom 
God made all mankind, and not redeemed by Christ, who is 
the Saviour of all men. Of the measures actually adopted 
we are not informed, but it is plain that no doctrinal decree 
was issued. If Virgil be the same individual who was after- 
wards created Bishop of Saltzburg, as is more generally be- 
lieved, he must have satisfied the archbishop and the Pontiff 
that his sentiment was innoxious. Granting, what is by no 
means proved, that Gregory wished deposition to take place 
for the holding of the opinion concerning the existence of anti- 
podes, it does not show any hostility to science, but a jealous 
care lest scientific speculations, not yet confirmed by satisfac- 
tory proofs, should weaken the belief in the revealed doctrines. 
This solicitude may in some instances be excessive, without 
implying any disposition to oppose the progress of science, 
within its legitimate sphere. The Church is not authorized to 
pronounce on subjects of this nature, unless as far as they ma- 
nifestly clash with revelation ; but she may adopt precautions, 
lest natural science be abused to cast discredit on revealed 
truth. 

The study of astronomy was always encouraged by the 
Popes, whilst its abuse by the superstitions of astrology was 
severely prohibited. A splendid evidence of the successful 
cultivation of astronomical science, under pontifical patronage, 
was afforded by the correction of the Calendar, by the autho- 
rity of Gregory XIII. The ancient Calendar, in use since the 
time of Julius Caesar, and adopted by the Council of Nice, was 
formed on the supposition that the annual course of the sun 
is completed in 365 days and 6 hours, which in reality takes 
place in 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 25 seconds : 
whence, in the lapse of so many ages, a difference of ten days 
existed in the designation of the vernal equinox ; the astrono- 
mical being prior to the civil calculation. Even in the eighth 
century, in the comparatively low condition of the sciences, 
the error had been pointed out by Venerable Bede, and subse- 
quently by others. In the decline of the fifteenth century it 
again awaked attention. Sixtus IV. called to Rome Muller, 



SCIENCE. 



471 



the greatest mathematician of his age, to devise a remedy ; but 
the glory of the sublime task of reconciling the calculations 
of time with the precise motion of the heavenly bodies, was 
reserved to Gregory XIII. Luigi Lilio, a man of obscure ori- 
gin in Calabria, proposed the substraction of ten days from 
the month of October, 1582, and to prevent a recurrence of the 
error, proposed the omission of the leap-year at the close of 
each century, with the exception of the four hundredth year, 
which should be bissextile or leap-year. His suggestions, 
communicated after his death by his brother, were graciously 
received by the Pontiff, and submitted to the examination of 
a body of learned astronomers, among whom was the Jesuit 
Clavius. Being found just, they were proposed to the whole 
civilized world by Gregory, who, whilst acknowledging their 
source, lost nothing of the glory which the correction impart- 
ed. Although the dominion of science belongs not to the Vicar 
of Christ, it was a sublime spectacle to see him regulating by 
its aid the calculations of time, and the great festivals of the 
Church ; and at a time when his authority in the things of sal- 
vation was proudly rejected by many, fixing a standard to 
which all civilized nations would, sooner or later, conform. 
" The new calender," says Hallam, " was immediately receiv- 
ed in all countries acknowledging the Pope's supremacy ; not 
so much on that account, though a discrepancy in the ecclesi- 
astical reckoning would have been very inconvenient, as of its 
real superiority over the Julian. The Protestant countries 
came much more slowly into the alteration, truth being no 
longer truth, when promulgated by the Pope. It is now ad- 
mitted that the Gregorian calendar is very nearly perfect, at 
least as to the computation of the solar year."* 

To the learned institutions of Italy this and many other 
fruits of scientific observation may be fairly referred. I have 
not space to dwell on the many inventions and discoveries 
which were made by the professors of the various universities, 
or by those who had been introduced by them into the halls of 
science. Ignatius Danti, a Dominican, professor of mathema- 
tics in Bologna, left, as Tiraboschi remarks, an imperishable 
memorial of his astronomical knowledge, in the great meridian 
drawn by him in the temple of St. Petronius in that city, in the 



* Hist, of Lit., vol. ii., ch. viii., n. 15. 



An 



SCIENCE. 



year 1576 : which, however, was not as great, or as accurate, 
as that which the immortal Cassini drew in the following age. 

Nicholas V., in 1448, in raising to the dignity of cardinal 
Nicholas Cusanus, a German, author of a work on statics, and 
a defender of the earth's motion around the sun, gave an une- 
quivocal mark of his regard for science. In Bologna, where 
astronomy was cultivated with success, this system was pro- 
bably maintained by Dominic Maria Novara, under whom Co- 
pernicus, a Prussian youth, studied at the close of this century. 
Lionardo de Vinci, a most illustrious astronomer, mathemati- 
cian, and mechanician, as well as painter, " in a treatise writ- 
ten about the year 1510, speaks of the earth's annual motion 
as the opinion of many philosophers of his age." # Celio Cal- 
cagnini, professor in the university of Ferrara, early in the six- 
teenth century, published a work in support of it ; but Coperni- 
cus, who, at the commencement of the century, was professor 
of astronomy at Rome, gave it celebrity, when, after the re- 
flections and observations of thirty-six years, he published his 
work, under the auspices of Paul III., in 1543. The difficulties 
in which Galileo was involved in 1616 and 1633, show that his 
manner of maintaining it, rather than the theory itself, must 
have provoked the displeasure of the ecclesiastical tribunal, 
since the system had been advanced without censure, nearly 
two hundred years before, by a high dignitary of the Church, 
and had been expressly maintained, with the implied approba- 
tion of a most enlightened Pontiff, full ninety years before the 
sentence pronounced against the Florentine astronomer. Had 
he confined himself, as he was repeatedly warned, to scientific 
demonstrations, without meddling with Scripture, and propos- 
ed his system as probable, rather than as indubitable, he would 
have excited no opposition. To urge it absolutely, at a time 
when it was not supported by those observations and calcula- 
tions which have since been made, was scarcely reconcilable 
with the respect due to the sacred text, whose literal meaning 
could not be abandoned, unless scientific demonstrations were 
presented to the contrary. " Mankind," says Hallam, " can in 
general take these theories of the celestial movements only 
upon trust from philosophers ; and in this instance it required 
a very general concurrence of competent judges to overcome 



* Hist, of Lit., vol. i., ch. hi., n. 115. 



SCIENCE, 



47S 



the repugnance of what called itself common sense, and was- 
in fact a prejudice as natural, as universal, and as irresistible 
as could influence human belief. With this was united an- 
other, derived from the language of Scripture ; and though it 
might have been sufficient to answer, that phrases implying the 
rest of the earth and motion of the sun are merely popular, and 
such as those who are best convinced of the opposite doctrine, 
must employ in ordinary language, this was neither satisfactory 
to the vulgar, nor recognised by the Church."* — " It must be 
confessed that the strongest presumptions in favor of the sys- 
tem of Copernicus were not discovered byhimself."f It may be 
added, that even Galileo did not furnish the most convincing 
proofs of the system, and that his chief reliance was on the flux 
and reflux of the tides, which no one at this day holds to be a 
satisfactory demonstration of the motion of the earth. Even 
long after his time eminent astronomers rejected his system. 
" In the middle of the seventeenth century, and long after- 
wards," says Hallam, "there were mathematicians of no small 
reputation, who struggled staunchly for the immobility of the 
earth." In such circumstances it is not to be wondered that 
an ecclesiastical tribunal, fearful lest the authority of the Sa- 
cred Scriptures should suffer in the minds of the multitude, by 
the bold and unqualified maintenance of a system in apparent 
opposition to them, enjoined on Galileo, in the year 1616, to 
observe silence, and when he had violated this order, required 
him, in 1633, to abjure the theory. The formulary of abjura- 
tion designates it " a heresy," but this is a technical expres- 
sion which, in the acts of the Roman tribunal, is applied to any 
sentiment or act contrary to the obedience of faith.J In this 
instance it could only denote the system as advanced by Gali- 
leo in a manner derogatory to the authority of the Scriptures. 
It is certain that Urban VIII. did not consider the act of the 
Inquisition as a definitive decree ; and that the theory was pub- 
licly taught at the time by two Jesuits in the Roman college. 
All that has been said concerning the persecution of the astro- 
nomer, is a tale of fancy. His discoveries gained for him the 
highest honors from all classes, from the PontifT to the hum- 
blest citizen, in 1615, when he first visited the eternal city. 

* Lit. of Europe, vol. ii., ch. viii., n. 10. f Ibidem, vol. iv., ch. viii., n. 32. 
% See Directorium Inquisitorum, by Nicholas Eymerick. 



474 



SCIENCE. 



In 1624 he was again received graciously by the Pope and car- 
dinals ; and in 1633, when his contemptuous violation of the 
injunction provoked their displeasure, his confinement was but 
nominal, in the apartments of the Fiscal, that is, prosecuting 
attorney, of the tribunal. No corporal punishment was inflict- 
ed, no dungeon was opened to receive him ; but in considera- 
tion of his scientific merits, his pride and contempt were visit- 
ed with the slightest expression of displeasure.* 

The Pontiffs throughout this age were true to their charac- 
ter as patrons of science. During the reign of Paul V., " a Je- 
suit, Grassi, in a treatise (de Tribus Cometis,) Rome, 1618, had 
the honor of explaining what had baffled Galileo, and first held 
them to be planets moving in vast ellipses round the sun." 
The astronomer Cassini, in 1657, was called to Rome, by Alex- 
ander VII. ; and whilst there gained new fame by his obser- 
vations on the two comets, which appeared in 1664 and 1665. 
His calculations, confirmed by the event, appeared like the 
predictions of an inspired man : and were followed by other 
discoveries which seemed to mark him as one to whom the 
secrets of the skies were laid open. It was a glorious homage 
to science when the monarch of a great kingdom sought from 
Clement IX., as a special favor, that France should be permit- 
ted to profit by the extraordinary science of this illustrious 
astronomer, and the reluctant Pontiff consented to lend him for 
a time. When, after a few years, he pressingly called for his 
return, Louis XIV. declined parting with a treasure of so 
much value ; and to bind him to the soil, and identify all his 
attachments and interests with France, granted him the rights 
of citizenship. In this, and in many other instances, Italy had 
the glory of giving to other nations the luminaries of science. 

Castelli, a Benedictin monk, disciple and defender of Ga- 
lileo, was called by Urban to Rome in 1625, to occupy the 
post of professor of Mathematics in the Sapienza, and in 1628 
he published in that city his celebrated works on the measure 
of running waters, and its geometrical demonstrations, where- 

* See the excellent pamphlet recently published at Cincinnati, Galileo — 
Roman Inquisition. The letter of Galileo, published by Tiraboschi, shows 
that he was treated with extraordinary kindness, the Pope changing the sen- 
tence of imprisonment into an order to remain for a time with the Archbishop 
of Sienna, his personal friend. 



SCIENCE. 



475 



by he has acquired the title of creator of this part of hy- 
draulics. Another disciple of Galileo, Cavalieri, of the order 
of Jesuates, or Jeromites, who is generally reputed the father 
of the new geometry, was professor of mathematics, about 
the same time, in Bologna, where he published in 1632 his 
treatise on continuous indivisibles. 

Benedict XIV. in the last century, followed in the footsteps 
of his illustrious predecessors, and distinguished himself as 
the patron of astronomical science. By his orders the obelisk, 
sixty-seven feet high, mentioned by Pliny, # on which was a 
dial to mark the sun's shadow, and ascertain the length of the 
day at various seasons, was dug up from the earth in 1748, 
and its precious fragments rendered accessible to the learned. 



* Hist. Nat., ch. ix., x., xi. 



CHAPTER VL 



THE ARTS. 



The Popes have, at all times, well understood that art might 
be fostered without detriment to religion : nay, their enligh- 
tened zeal found means to make the arts tributary. " If there 
be a Church," says Saint Priest, " predestined to a social mis- 
sion, which, far from throwing obstacles in the way of civili- 
zation, has developed and fostered its germs in the focus of 
ardent faith, the Roman Church must be recognised by these 
features. We shall see her during the first period of her ex- 
istence, causing the education of the soul and of the mind to 
advance with equal pace ; cursing in the name of faith the 
gods of paganism, and protecting their images in the name of 
art : afterwards, for the interest of both, which she always 
happily combined, opposing the force of her word to the blind 

fury of the Iconoclasts Her true character was always 

to unite the maintenance of faith with the exercise of all the 
human faculties, to regulate them all without proscribing any 
of them, thus to devote them, in a purified state, to the ser- 
vice of God. Rome attached to the altars of Christ the ima- 
gination itself, the rebellious slave of reason."* 

The proofs of these enlarged views are found in the acts of 
the ancient Popes, who, as soon as the danger of idolatry had 
ceased, availed themselves of the labors of the artist for the 
decoration of the churches. Paintings, mosaics, and inlaid 
work of various kinds, were among their ordinary gifts. Paul 
I. built an oratory of the Blessed Virgin within the precincts 
of St. Peter's, having a silver statue of a hundred pounds' 
weight, richly gilded. Leo III. introduced the use of stained 
glass. Sergius II. raised a vestibule before St. John of Late- 
ran, supported by columns and arches. Silver canopies for 



* Histoire de la Royaute, vol. ii., 1, v., p. 7. 



THE ARTS. 



477 



the altar, which were then called ciboria, were given by va- 
rious Popes. These are a few instances of the zeal of the 
Popes to adorn the house of God, that the facts of sacred 
history might be read on its walls, and the mysteries of faith 
constantly kept in view. The elegance of the execution va- 
ried according to the general condition of the times ; but at 
all times art presented her best offerings on the altars of re- 
ligion. 

Blind zeal against paganism would have destroyed the tem- 
ples and statues of the gods as so many monuments of idol- 
atry : the Popes preserved them with care, wisely judging that 
the temples might be transferred to the worship of the true 
God. No glory could redound to the Deity from the destruc- 
tion of the statues, wherein the skill of man appears, fash- 
ioning the lifeless stone to the imitation of the divine work. 
Paul II. gathered ancient statues from all parts of the city 
into his own palace, and rewarded with munificence all who 
brought them from Greece, Asia, or other countries. What 
Leo X. did for the recovery of the works of art cannot be told. 
The monuments rescued by the care of the Popes from the 
destroying arm of the barbarian, or the fragments gathered 
up by them from the ruins of the desolate city, came down 
through ages of tumult as models of perfection, which in a 
happier age were to be rivalled, if not excelled. The Pan- 
theon, the glory of Roman architecture, was to be placed in 
the clouds by the sublime genius of Michael Angelo ; and 
Rome was to possess a temple crowned with the wondrous 
dome, which would far surpass, in its vast and just dimensions, 
all the ancient fanes of the false deities, and even the august 
mansion which God Himself had chosen among His favored 
people. If the middle ages produced nothing worthy of th(^ 
ancient masters, it was a matter of just glory for the age of 
Julius and of Leo, that genius revisited the earth, and ex- 
hibited on the canvass such animated representations as filled 
the eye with wonder, and stirred the deep fountains of thr 
heart. The Transfiguration and the General Judgment are 
miracles of genius, which the world might have never seen, 
but for the munificence and refined taste of the calumniated 
Pontiffs. " Rome," says Tiraboschi, " was the first theatre in 
which were collected the most perfect productions of nature 
and art. Julius II., Leo X., Clement VII., and Paul III., are 

30 



478 



THE ARTS. 



names of immortal renown in the annals of the fine arts, for 
the munificence with which they promoted and cherished them 
during their pontificates. There were seen re-united, almost 
all at one time, Raphael of Urbino, Julius of Rome, John of 
Udine, Pernio del Vago, Polidore of Caravaggio, Francis Maz- 
zuoli, Baldassar Peruzzi, Anthony of S. Gallo, and James San- 
sovino, Alphonsus Lombardi, and Baccio Bandinelli, names so 
illustrious in painting, architecture, and sculpture ; and there 
finally was Michelangelo Buonarotti, painter, sculptor, and 
architect, uniting in himself all the splendid endowments 
which were divided among the others. — The Vatican basilic 
would alone be sufficient to render immortal the names of the 
four Popes above mentioned, to whom its commencement and 
termination are principally due. In it all the arts seemed to 
vie, which should present the most splendid proofs of the ex- 
cellence of its professors."* " Sculpture," says Voltaire, 
" was the art in which the Greeks excelled, and the glory of 
the Italians is, to have approached the perfection of their mo- 
dels. In architecture they far surpassed them, and all nations 
acknowledge that nothing was ever comparable to the chief 
temple of modern Rome, the most beautiful, vast, and bold 
that ever existed in the universe."f 
Byron has justly said : — 

Majesty, 

Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled 
In this eternal ark of worship undefiled. 

The animated portraits of Titian, and his living landscapes, 
which tempt the beholder to walk amidst the delightful sce- 
nery, found admirers in Leo X. and Paul III., and the minia- 
tures of Julius Clovio were rewarded by the munificence of 
Farnese. Sofonisba Anguisciola, of Cremona, employed her 
pencil with such success in the portrait of the queen of Spain, 
that Pius IV., to whom it was forwarded, honored her with a 
complimentary letter on the excellence of the painting. Thus 
did the Popes prove themselves patrons of the fine arts, lavish- 
ing honors and wealth on those who attained to eminence in 

* Storia della Letteratura Italiana, v. vii., p. iii., 1. iiL, c. viL 
f Essai sur l'Histoire, t. iii., ch. cxvii. 



THE ARTS. 



479 



their cultivation. They made Rome, as Voltaire acknow- 
ledges, the most beautiful city in the world.* 

. It would be tedious, although not uninteresting, to enume- 
rate instances of encouragement given to all the arts. En- 
gravers, lapidaries, as well as painters and sculptors, are in- 
debted to pontifical munificence for the progress and success 
of their labors. Martin V. and Paul II. were their special 
patrons. Clement Birago, a youth of Milan, at the court of 
Clement VII. first practised the art of engraving on diamonds. 
" The fine arts continued to flourish in Italy because the con- 
tagion of controversy scarcely reached that country ; and 
whilst blood flowed in Germany, France, and England, for 
matters that were not understood (it is Voltaire that speaks), 
Italy at peace since the astonishing sacking of Rome by the 
army of Charles V., cultivated the arts with increased ar or. 
The wars of religion spread ruin elsewhere ; but at Rome, 
and in several other Italian cities, prodigies of architecture 
were witnessed. Ten Popes successively contributed, almost 
without any interruption, to the completion of the basilic of 
St. Peter, and encouraged the arts generally. Nothing of the 
kind was seen throughout the rest of Europe at" that period. 
The glory of genius then belonged to Italy alone, as it had 
been formerly peculiar to Greece."t 

We cannot easily estimate the improvements in church 
building and decoration which took place in various coun- 
tries, under the guidance of Christian missionaries, and the 
influence of Roman models. To be just, we should estimate 
these things according to the previous state of the respective 
countries. Of England, a late eloquent writer observes : " St, 
Wilfrid and St. Bennet Biscop, the great improvers of Saxon 
architecture, made several pilgrimages to Rome, (the former 
three or four, the latter no less than five,) and never did they 
return without a rich importation of manuscripts, chalices, 
various utensils, vestments, and ornaments for the altar ; be- 
sides statues and pictures to adorn the temples, which their 
observation of the Roman and continental structures had 
enabled them to erect. In these new structures, they exhibited 
to their admiring countrymen all the wonders of cut stone 
walls and towers, lead roofs and glass windows, with sundry 



Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, t. ii., ch. xlix. f Ibid., t. in., eh. cxvii. 



480 



THE ARTS. 



other astonishing improvements, * juxta Romanorum morem. 
And it may be well imagined, that not the least attractive of 
these novelties were the creations of the Italian or Grecian 
pencil."* 

The glory of Rome, as the seat of the arts, remains undi- 
minished. When, in the conclave of 1829, Chateaubriand, the 
French ambassador, had expressed the necessity of choosing 
for Pontiff a man of enlightened views, corresponding with 
the progress of the age, and Cutzow, the Austrian ambassa- 
dor, had harped on the same subject, Cardinal Castiglioni, in 
reply, modestly pointed to the Vatican as an unquestionable 
evidence of the patronage which the Holy See continues to 
extend to art and science, and the care with which she fosters 
mental development. Byron, in his day, acknowledged that 
Italy had still illustrious men in every department : " Italy 
has great names still — Canova, Monti, Ugo Foscolo, Pinde- 
monte, Visconti, Morelli, Cicognara, Albrizzi, Mezzofanti, Mai, 
Mustoxidi, Aglietti, and Vacca, will secure to the present 
generation an honorable place in most of the departments of 
art, science, and Belles Lettres ; and in some the very highest. 
Europe — the world — has but one Canova. "y We may still 
address the mother and mistress of churches in the language 
of this child of genius : — 

" Mother of arts, as once of arms, 
Thy hand was then our guardian, and is still our guide." 

* Rome under Paganism, &c., vol. ii., p. 243, 
f Introd. to canto iv., Childe Harold. 



CHAPTER VII. 



ART OF PRINTING. 

§ 1. Encouragement of Printers. 

The zeal of the Popes for the promotion of elegant literature 
and useful knowledge was displayed, in the most unequivocal 
manner, on the discovery of, what Berthold, Archbishop of 
Mentz, did not hesitate to style, the divine art of printing. To 
German , belongs the glory of this invention ; but only a few 
years had elapsed when Italy rivalled and surpassed her. 
" The whole number of books," as Hallam testifies, " printed 
with dates of time and place, in the German empire, from 
1461 to 1470, according to Panzer, was only twenty-four ; of 
which five were Latin, and two German Bibles." — " A more 
splendid scene was revealed in Italy. Sweynheim and Pen- 
nartz, two workmen of Fust, set up a press, doubtless with 
encouragement and patronage, at the monastery of Subiaco, 
in the Apennines. — In 1467, after printing Augustin De Civi- 
tate Dei, and Cicero de Oratore, the two Germans left Subiaco 
for Rome, where they sent forth not less than twenty-three 
editions of ancient Latin authors before the close of 1470. — 
The whole number of books that had issued from the press in 
Italy at the close of that year, amounts, according to Panzer, 
to eighty-two, exclusive of those which have no date, some of 
which may be referrible to this period."* Another German 
printer, Udalric Hahn, was patronized at Rome at the same 
time, and gave to the public the meditations of Cardinal Tur- 
recremata, illustrated with wood-cuts. The bishop John An- 
drew de Bussi, librarian of the Vatican, aided the printers in 
their literary labors. The example of Rome was eagerly 
imitated by no less than fifty cities of Italy. Venice became 
her rival, and soon surpassed her in the number of works is- 

* Literature of Europe, vol. i., ch. iii., n. 33. 



482 



ART OF PRINTING. 



suing from her press ; and Milan strove to excel her in the 
magnificence of the execution. All the works of Cicero were 
printed in splendid style at Milan, in 1498 and 1499 ; and "an 
edition of Cicero's epistles appeared also in the town of Fu- 
ligno."* " The books printed in Italy during these ten years 
(from 1470 to 1480) amount, according to Panzer, to 1297 ; of 
which 234 are editions of ancient classical authors. Books 
without date are of course not included ; and the list must 
not be reckoned complete as to others."-]- " A translation of 
the Bible by Malerbi, a Venetian, was published in 1471, and 
two other editions of that, or a different version, the same 
year. Eleven editions are enumerated by Panzer in the fif- 
teenth century." J The books printed at Rome down to 1500 
are 935, a far greater number than issued from any other city 
but Venice, which counted 2835. " Much more than ten 
thousand editions of books or pamphlets (a late writer says 
fifteen thousand) were printed from 1470 to 1500. More than 
half the number appeared in Italy."§ " The editions of the 
Vulgate registered in Panzer are ninety-one."|| 

The activity of the Roman press was considerably lessened 
by the wars, of which Italy was the theatre in the early part 
of the sixteenth century : but it was soon restored. "An 
jEthiopic, that is, Abyssinian grammar, with the Psalms in the 
same language, was published at Rome by Potken, in 1513."^! 
" The iEthiopic version of the New Testament was printed 
at Rome in 1548."** A splendid edition of the works of Homer 
issued from the Roman press in 1549, under the superintend- 
ence of Anthony Bladus. Paul Manutius, the learned Vene- 
tian, on the invitation of Pius IV., established a printing office 
at Rome in 1561, and gave to the public many works, the ex- 
penses of which were defrayed by the munificence of the 
Pontiff. Pius appointed two correctors of the press for the 
Greek language, and ordered diligent search to be made for 
manuscripts in the Oriental tongues. When after an absence 
for some time, Paul returned to Rome, in the pontificate of 
Gregory XIII., this enlightened Pope insisted on retaining him 
there, in his old age, and assigned him a pension, leaving him 



* Lit. of Europe, vol. L, ch. iii., n. 33. 
% Ibidem, n. 53. § Ibidem, n. 143. 
If Ibidem, ch. v., n. 77. 



f Ibidem, n. 44. 

|| Ibidem, n. 141. 

** Ibidem, ch. ix., n. 25. 



ART OF PRINTING. 



483 



at liberty to pursue his literary labors as might suit his con- 
venience. " The increasing zeal of Rome," Hallam remarks. 
" for the propagation of its faith, both among infidels and 
schismatics, gave a larger sweep to the cultivation of Orien- 
tal languages." Sixtus V. placed the Apostolic printing office 
on a permanent basis, and spent 40,000 crowns in its estab- 
lishment, providing it with Greek. Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and 
Servian types, and with excellent paper, and all other requi- 
sites for elegant execution ; and assigned pensions to learned 
men charged with the supervision of the press. During his 
pontificate, an elegant edition of the Septuagint was issued 
from it, which is acknowledged to be the best hitherto any 
where published.* Thence also came forth an edition of the 
Vulgate, which, however, although introduced to the public 
with his formal sanction, he ordered to be suppressed, on the 
discovery of many inaccuracies. After some years, a new 
edition was got up with great care, to which Clement VIII. 
affixed his approbation. 

The munificence of the Popes was employed in encouraging 
the printing of books to be circulated in the Eastern nations. 
The first printing office in Europe for the Arabic tongue was 
established at Fano, by Gregory Giorgio of Venice, at the ex- 
pense of Julius If., and a book in that language issued from it 
in 1514. Gregory XIII. declared Cardinal Ferdinand de* Me- 
dici protector of Ethiopia, and of the patriarchates of Alex- 
andria and Antioch, in order to stimulate his zeal for the con- 
version of the inhabitants of those countries : in consequence 
of which the Cardinal gathered manuscripts from all parts : 
and at an immense expense, cast Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, 
Ethiopic, and Armenian types, and employed learned men, 
especially John Baptist Raimondi, to superintend the press. 
An Arabic and a Chaldaic grammar issued from it : some 
works of Avicenna and Euclid were published in Arabic, with 
3000 copies of the four Gospels in the same language, for dis- 
tribution in the East. Raimondi also undertook to publish 
the whole Bible in ten different tongues. Thus, in the six- 
teenth century, both before and after the so-called Reforma- 
tion, the Popes and the cardinals were active patrons of the 
press, and Bible- distributors ! w The Persic grammar was 

* See Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, edited by John Kitto, D. D., 
F. S. A., v. Septuagint 



484 



ART OF PRINTING. 



given at Rome by Raimondi in 1614." " We find Ferrari, au- 
thor of a Syriac lexicon, published at Rome in 1622." In 1627 
there were types of fifteen different languages in the printing 
establishment of Propaganda, and, at a later period, types of 
twenty-three. There issued from it in the decline of that 
age, a work styled " Bibliotheca magna Rabbinica" composed 
by Father Bartolocci, a Cistercian monk, who for thirty-six 
years had been professor of Hebrew. An Arabic grammar, a 
Syro- Arabic Latin thesaurus, a Syriac dictionary, a Hebrew 
dictionary, and other works of a like character, were pub- 
lished there at various times. Three Maronites, namely, Vic- 
tor Scialac, Abraham Ecchellensis, and Faustus Nairo, were 
maintained at the expense of the Pope, for the purpose of 
publishing works in Arabic. In 1621, a great work called 
"Hebrew Concordances," came from that press, and was so 
highly esteemed as to be reprinted in London. An Arabic 
Bible, which was in preparation during forty-six years, was 
published at Rome in 1671, in three folio volumes. A print- 
ing office, furnished with Oriental types, was established in 
Milan by Cardinal Frederick Borromeo, from which an Arabic 
dictionary in four volumes issued in 1632. Cardinal Barbarigo 
established an Oriental printing office at Padua, from which 
issued a splendid edition of the Koran. " A fine edition of 
the Koran, and still esteemed the best," as Hallam observes, 
" was due to Marracci, professor of Arabic in the Sapienza, 
or university of Rome, and published at the expense of Car- 
dinal Barbarigo in 1698."* The munificence of Clement XL, 
enabled Joseph Simon Assemani, a Maronite of Syria, to pub- 
lish at Rome, in 1719, his learned work on the Vatican manu- 
scripts in the Oriental languages. The publication of the 
works of St. Ephrem was also begun by him, and continued 
by his nephew Stephen Evodius. The Acts of the martyrs of 
the East and of the West were published in Chaldaic, and 
translated by the latter ; and several other works, composed 
by others of the same family, came from the same press. It 
is not easy to enumerate all that Rome has done, and is still 
engaged in doing, to promote Oriental literature. " Who," 
cries Ranke, " does not know what the Propaganda has done 
for philological learning ? "f 

* Literature of Europe, vol. iv., ch. viii., n. 41. 
f Ranke, Hist. Popes, vol. ii., 1. vii., p. 59, 



ART OF PRINTING. 



485 



§ 2. Restrictions on the Press. 

The services of the Popes to letters are forgotten, whilst 
the restrictions imposed by them on the press are made a mat- 
ter of reproach. Berthold, archbishop of Mentz, deemed it 
proper to guard against its abuse by requiring the examination 
of books by clergymen appointed for the purpose, previous to 
their publication. Alexander VI. published a similar decree 
with special reference to Germany, and Leo X. renewed and 
confirmed it as a general law. Paul IV., in 1539, published a 
list of prohibited books. A committee of divines was ap- 
pointed by the Council of Trent to form a list of bad or dan- 
gerous books ; who, having failed to complete the task assigned 
them before the close of the Council, were allowed to continue 
their labors, and ordered to submit them to the Pope for ap- 
probation. There is a long list of books, the reading or re- 
tention of which is prohibited under ecclesiastical censures : 
and although this discipline is overruled by contrary usage in 
most countries, it serves to give coloring to the charge, that 
the Popes are hostile to the liberty of the press. It would 
lead me far away were I to enter fully into this subject : but, 
in justice to the Popes, I must observe, that their sole object 
has been to restrain the press within the limits of the divine 
law, and that the licentiousness which sends forth impious 
and corrupt books, to poison the minds of youth, is that which 
our late venerable Pontiff visited with unmitigated censure. 
Liberty of the press, considered as a civil right, does not sup- 
pose freedom from moral restraint, or impunity from civil 
penalties for its abuse. Its chief value, in a civil point of 
view, is to give free expression to public sentiment in regard 
to the management of public affairs by rulers, and other offi- 
cers, and thus to prevent oppression, or procure its remedy, 
by exposing it to general censure. The exercise of such 
liberty, for the true interests of the country, is nowise opposed 
to the spirit or discipline of the Church. It is well known 
that the Popes have permitted the publication at Rome of 
works on civil polity, which, on account of their liberal and 
popular principles, were proscribed in several European 
States ; and that, at all times, they have shown themselves 
disposed to favor the oppressed, rather than stifle their com- 
plaints. Incendiary and seditious works could not, of course^ 



486 ART OF PRINTING. 

be sanctioned by the rulers of the Church, who are bound to 
sustain established order, and promote peace : but these are 
not included in the true notion of liberty of the press ; since 
in France, where this is a constitutional right, they are liable 
to seizure when discovered ; and in this country they expose 
the authors and publishers to the severity of the law. In all 
that regards science, literature, and the arts, the utmost free- 
dom of the press may be enjoyed, with no limit but the cau- 
tion of not advancing on holy ground. The golden age of 
Spanish literature was precisely that in which the laws of the 
Index, as the tribunal which forms the list of prohibited books 
is called, were strictly enforced. How can it be pretended 
that science is impeded in her legitimate progress, because 
she is warned not to displace the landmarks of religion ? A 
vast space lies open to research and improvements, without 
encroaching on the realms of faith. If Locke's essay on the 
human understanding, and Milton's Paradise Lost, are found 
on the list of prohibited books, it is because the philosopher 
artfully undermined the doctrine of the spiritual nature of the 
soul, and the poet exhibited Christ according to the fancy of 
the Arians. Lest an incautious reader, misled by a great 
name, should imbibe fatal error, the books were proscribed ; 
but even in countries where the discipline prevails, leave to 
read them is easily obtained. The Popes have at all times 
respected the meditations of true philosophy, and honored the 
inspirations of the Muses, always saving the truth of what 
God has revealed. 

Freedom of the press, as a civil right, in this country, ex- 
tends to the publication of works on doctrinal subjects, with- 
out regard to the faith of the Church : so that all the doctrines 
which we hold to be divine, may be assailed without incur- 
ring any civil penalty, which, however, may be inflicted, even 
here, on an open blasphemer of Christ. To the full enjoyment 
of this civil right by our fellow-citizens, we make no objection 
whatever. The Constitutions of the various States, and the 
principles of the country and age, give it, leaving to each one 
the responsibility of its enjoyment. For ourselves, believing 
firmly that God has made a revelation, of which the Church 
is the guardian, we cannot conscientiously approve of any- 
thing written or spoken in opposition to her teaching. The 
decrees of the Pope proscribing certain books as containing 



ART OF PRINTING. 



487 



false doctrines, are for us the warnings of a father against 
what might pervert the understanding, and corrupt the hearts 
of his children. Independently of them, we are naturally 
bound to shun whatever is dangerous to our faith and morals. 
The youth who, uninstructed in the great evidences of reve- 
lation, familiarizes himself with Paine's Age of Reason, ex- 
poses himself to the manifest danger of infidelity. The fe- 
male who, with morbid curiosity, peruses an obscene tale, is 
liable to lose that purity of heart which is her greatest trea- 
sure. In proportion to our information and moral habits, the 
dangers may be diminished ; but it is beyond a doubt, that to 
the reading of bad books may be traced the infidelity and cor- 
ruption of innumerable individuals. The restrictions which 
the Popes imposed would be unjust if arbitrary, and unrea- 
sonable if those for whom they were intended did not already 
recognise their pastoral authority : but this being recognised, 
nothing is more reasonable and just than to turn away the 
sheep from noxious pastures, by proscribing whatever is con- 
trary to sound doctrine. At all events, the precedent of the 
proscription of bad books was given by the apostles, when 
the vast collection of works of magic belonging to converts 
from that superstition were consigned to the flames.* Will 
the readers of Scripture charge the apostles with hostility to 
knowledge ? The moral restraints resulting from our disci- 
pline serve to avert many of the evils with which the licen- 
tiousness of the press deluges society. The pangs of the 
broken heart when its shame has been revealed, — the desola- 
tion of families, whose sorrows have rung on the public ear, 
— the torture of high-minded patriots, writhing under the 
calumnies of reckless rivals, — -the fury of a populace mad- 
dened to arson and bloodshed by incendiary publications, and 
the struggles and convulsions of parties, which almost threaten 
the dissolution of society, are no imaginary evils. Voltaire 
did not hesitate to declare that the press had become one of 
the scourges of society, and an intolerable system of brigand 
warfare, f 

* Acts xix. 19. 

f " La presse, il le faut avouer, est devemie un des fleaux de la societe, et 
un brigandage intolerable." Voltaire, fragment d'une lettre a un Academi- 
cien de Berlin, t. v. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 

§ 1. Civilization. 

What we have elsewhere said of the authority exercised over 
princes for the correction of their morals, must give a high 
idea of the general influence which the Popes had on public 
morals and order. When the people saw their leaders stricken 
with the rod of ecclesiastical authority, they were made 
deeply sensible of the turpitude of crime, which could not 
escape censure even in those whose station appeared to place 
them beyond correction. The struggle of the Pontiffs with 
the fierce passions of the feudal nobility, is graphically de- 
scribed by a writer in the British Critic, who thus represents 
the position of the Church in the middle ages: "Just as she 
had subdued the intelligence and refinement of the old Roman 
empire, it was swept away, and she was left alone with its 
wild destroyers. Her commission was changed : she had now 
to tame and rule the barbarians. But upon them the voice 
which had rebuked the heretic fell powerless. While they 
pressed into her fold, they overwhelmed all her efforts to re- 
claim them, and filled her, from east to west, with violence 
and stunning disorder. When, therefore, she again roused 
herself to confront the world, her position and difficulties 
were shifted. Her enemy was no longer heresy, but vice, — 
wickedness which wrought with a high hand, foul and ram- 
pant, like that of Sodom, or the men before the flood. It was 
not the faith, but the first principles of duty — justice, mercy, 
and truth, which were directly endangered by the unbridled 
ambition and licentiousness of the feudal aristocrac}^, who 
were then masters of Europe. With this fierce nobility, she 
had to fight the battle of the poor and weak — to settle the 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



489 



question whether the Christian religion and the offices of the 
Church were to be anything more than names, and honors, 
and endowments, trappings of chivalry and gentle blood ; 
whether there were yet strength left upon earth to maintain 
and avenge the laws of God, whoever might break them. 
She had to stand between the oppressor and his prey — to com- 
pel respect for what is pure and sacred from the lawless and 
powerful."* It is impossible not to admire the unflinching 
resolution with which the Pontiffs contended for moral prin- 
ciple against these potentates. The disorders of those ages 
shock us by their enormity and frequency : but they would 
have been unmitigated and unrelieved by any exhibition of 
Christian virtues, had not the Popes fulminated censure against 
the prevaricators, and proclaimed to the world maxims of 
purity and holiness. 

They did not, however, confine their efforts to those who, 
by the action of Providence, seemed brought within their 
reach. With unceasing solicitude they applied themselves to 
the diffusion of the Gospel, by despatching apostolic men, 
from time to time, to barbarous and savage nations, to im- 
part to them the knowledge of salvation. In order to estimate 
their services, it would be necessary to go over the records of 
missions in various ages, and to consider the condition of the 
aborigines, or early settlers of each country. Children of na- 
ture, with no rule but impulse, and no restraint, but the fear 
of vengeance — with no affection but for objects of momen- 
tary gratification, and no ambition but to slay an enemy, — 
sunk in sensuality, without even the restraint of shame, they 
scarcely presented anything to distinguish them from the 
brute beast. For the salvation of such degraded beings, the 
Popes uniformly sighed, and when occasion offered itself, sent 
forth the heralds of the Gospel to enlighten, humanize, and 
save them. The naked savage and the painted barbarian 
stood aghast — the huntsman and the warrior tribe were ar- 
rested in their course, at the sight of the missionaries of the 
cross : the tones of sacred music fell on their delighted ears, 
and they listened to the tale of wonder which the strangers 
recounted : finally, they clung to them as fathers, and learned 
from them to control their unruly passions, and worship the 



* British Critic, vol. 33, p. 7. 



490 



MORAL IISTLUENCE. 



Great Spirit. The condescension of the Popes in yielding to 
these reclaimed children of the forest whatever the divine 
law did not forbid, and leading them gradually to the perfec- 
tion of Christian discipline, shows extraordinary wisdom and 
true philanthropy. With zeal tempered by wisdom, they la- 
bored incessantly to form them to arts of peace and industry. 
" The Gregorian school," says Saint Priest, speaking of St. Boni- 
face, the apostle of Germany, sent by Gregory It, " although 
animated chiefly by the sincerest religious zeal, did not limit 
their views to the salvation of souls. To clear the land, to 
change a dry soil and thick forests into fertile plains, to build 
dwellings which might serve as the commencement of cities, 
to accustom men to social life, to bind strongly the family tie, 
and to form bonds of association, and of mutual wants and 
succors, to unite, to colonize, such were the plans that Win- 
fred revolved in his mind."* What Boniface accomplished in 
Germany, the apostles of other countries effected in their re- 
spective missions. The encouragement given to monastic in- 
stitutions had this tendency and effect. The tranquillity of 
the cloister had its charms for the warrior, who oftentimes 
laid aside his armor, to sit at the feet of a holy monk, and 
learn the science of salvation. The wandering tribes were 
arrested in their career by the sight of a vast monastery with 
its delightful gardens and well-cultivated fields, and they 
learned to imitate the industry which afforded plenty and con- 
tentment. Hostile bands trod with reverence on the soil 
which was sacred to religion and virtue, and laid aside their 
ferocity. It is impossible to estimate the effects of these in- 
stitutions on civilization. Marshes drained, immense wastes 
reclaimed and fertilized, valleys beautified with varied culti- 
vation, hills crowned with olives, and plains overspread with 
wheat, are only the immediate fruits of their labors. The in- 
fluence of their example in recommending industry and peace 
must have been immense. 

There is no doubt in my mind that the veneration of the 
Blessed Virgin, which the Popes always cherished, was 
amongst the most powerful means of civilization. Woman 
was raised from her degradation, and no longer regarded as 
the slave of the haughty soldier. She was respected because 



Histoire de la Royaute paT Saint Priest, vol. ii. 1. viii. , p. 223. 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



491 



of Her who was blessed among women. The mild virtues 
of the Virgin caught the admiration of the fierce sons of 
Mars, and her gentleness and sweetness were imitated by 
them. Holy purity was loved, because it had been honored 
in her person. Not only vast numbers of her own sex 
cherished it with jealous care, but thousands of men vowed 
to preserve it, and sought the aid of her prayers for that pur- 
pose. It is manifest that the devotion to her was developed 
and exercised in those ages in a remarkable degree ; and to 
it we may fairly ascribe all that was bland and meek in man- 
ners, all that was pure in morals, all that was tender and 
affecting in piety. Augustus William Schlegel, although a 
Protestant, has beautifully observed : " With the virtues of 
chivalry was associated a new and purer spirit of love, an 
inspired homage for genuine female worth, which was now 
revered as the pinnacle of humanity, and enjoined by religion 
itself under the image of a Virgin mother, infused into all 
hearts a sentiment of unalloyed goodness."* 

§ 2. Personal Virtues. 

The personal virtues which distinguished the Popes, neces- 
sarily had a most happy influence on the whole Christian 
world. Placed on the highest eminence, they shone, for the 
most part, with bright effulgence, and gave occasion to all 
to glorify God for the good works which they performed. 
Their charity, which embraced all mankind, was experienced 
far beyond the limits which their means might have marked 
for its exercise. In the decline of the second century, Denys, 
Bishop of Corinth, addressed a letter of thanks to the Roman 
Church, for the relief which Pope Soter had sent to the dis- 
tressed faithful of the East, conformably to the custom of his 
predecessors: "From the beginning," he writes, "you were 
wont to bestow favors on the brethren, and to send means of 
subsistence to the poor of other churches : here you come to 
the relief of the indigent faithful, especially of those who are 
at work in the mines ; and as becomes genuine Romans, you 
maintain the ancient usage of your ancestors. The blessed 
bishop Soter was not content with walking in the footsteps 

* Lectures on Dramatic Literature, translated by John Black, p. 8, Ame- 
rican edition. 



492 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



of the fathers ; besides taking on himself the charge of send- 
ing your generous offerings to the faithful, he comforted the 
brethren who went to 'him with pious words, uttered with the 
tenderest affection of a fond father towards his children."* 
A century afterwards, St. Denys, Bishop of Rome, sent alms 
to Cesarea in Cappadocia, for the ransom of slaves, witii let- 
ters of condolence to the afflicted Church.f The treasures of 
the Roman Church were regarded as the common fund of the 
poor, so that when the deacon Lawrence was called on by the 
pagan persecutor to deliver them up, he did not hesitate to 
distribute them among the poor, whom he presented at the 
appointed time, saying : " These are the treasures of the 
Church ! " 

Charity continued to be the distinguishing characteristic of 
the Pontiffs. With scarcely an exception, they are all de- 
scribed as fathers of the poor, some of them receiving greater 
praise for more unbounded munificence. Gelasius, who lived 
at the close of the fifth century, is said to have been the ser- 
vant of all men, but especially of the poor of Christ. In the 
seventh century, John IV. sent a large sum of money to Istria, 
to be employed in the ransom of prisoners ; and John VI. 
imitated his example, when Gisulph, the Lombard duke of 
Benevento, had led away many captives from Campania. 
Paul I., in the following century, paid the debts of prisoners 
out of his own purse. St. Paschal I. built, at his own ex- 
pense, a house for the reception and entertainment of Eng- 
lish pilgrims, in place of another which had been destroyed 
by fire. Even in the tenth century this attribute of the pon- 
tifical office did not fail. Among the praises of Marinus III., 
is recorded his generosity to the poor. Benedict VII. is de- 
scribed as a lover of the poor. In the fifteenth century (not 
to weary the reader with specifications in each age), Euge- 
nius IV., Nicholas V., Callistus III., are all commended for 
liberality towards the poor of Christ. Clement VIII., a Pon- 
tiff of the sixteenth century, always entertained twelve poor 
men at his table. Innocent X., in the following age, exercised 
extraordinary generosity to the poor, not confining his alms to 
the large sum of 100,000 crowns, which his predecessors had 
been wont to distribute every year, but adding many large 



Apud Euseb. 1. iv. hist. eccl. c. xxiii. f S. Basil, ep. Ixx. alias, ccxx. 



MORAL INFLUENCE, 



493 



donations, especially to families burdened with children. The 
Romans asked leave of Alexander VII. to erect a statue, in 
order to perpetuate the memory of his charity, which was 
manifested to an extraordinary degree when famine and pes- 
tilence prevailed. The Pontiff humbly declined the proffered 
honor, telling them with his usual grace and dignity, that he 
desired no monument but the kind remembrance which they 
cherished in their hearts. Innocent XII. called the poor his 
nephews, and bequeathed to them whatever might result 
from the sale of the furniture of his palace afte: his death. 
On his return from Civitavecchia, he was met by an immense 
multitude, who insisted on bearing on their shoulders the 
chair in which he rode. As this triumphal procession advanced 
to the gates of the eternal city, acclamations rent the air : 
" Behold ! our father comes — the father of the po r ! " Clement 
XII. relieved the distress of four thousand Romans, who, by a 
public conflagration, were thrown houseless on the world. 
Benedict XIV. made a visit to the sick at Civitavecchia, 
waited on them, and gave each of them a small present. The 
same was done by his successor, Clement XIII. , who also left 
proofs of his munificence with the prisoners whom he visited 
at Corneto. He devoted ten thousand crowns to the erection 
of a hospital for women, and a house of education for girls. 
Clement XIV. called the poor of Christ his family. The cha- 
rity of Pius VI. to the poor was displayed in many instances, 
especially on occasion of public calamities, as when Bologna 
and other cities were visited by an earthquake, and the for- 
tress of Civitavecchia was blown up by the accidental explo- 
sion of a gunpowder magazine. 

Leo XIL, in our own age, has merited special praises for 
his solicitude for the poor ; but, in truth, it is the general 
characteristic of all the Pontiffs, who, in this respect, most 
certainly have exhibited themselves as worthy representatives 
of Him who became poor for our sake. 

The fortitude with which the Popes have struggled for 
truth and justice, cannot be considered a mere accidental vir- 
tue : it was, no doubt, a divine gift bestowed on them in the 
person of Him who, from being a shaking reed, was made a 
rock of strength. The first three centuries saw a succession 
of martyrs fill the papal chair : " During the persecutions," 
says Ranke, " the bishops of Rome had exhibited extraordi- 

31 



494 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



nary firmness and courage : their succession had often been 
rather to martyrdom and death than to office."* The Dona- 
tists endeavored to tarnish the lustre of the Holy See, by a 
groundless report that Marcellinus, whose pontificate closed 
the third century, had yielded to the persecutors, and offered 
incense to idols. The slander was indignantly rejected by St. 
Augustin, who saw no need of refuting what was supported 
by no proof. " What need have we," he cried, " to answer 
the charges brought by Petilian against the bishops of the 
Roman Church, whom he has attacked with incredible calum- 
nies? Marcellinus and his priests are accused by him of 
having delivered up the divine books into the hands of the 
pagans, and offered incense to the idols : but does this prove 
them to be guilty ? is any authentic document produced to 
show that they were convicted of the crime ? He declares 
them wicked and sacrilegious : I pronounce them innocent."f 

It must appear strange that this calumny, embodied by 
some unknown writer in the forged acts of a Council sup- 
posed to have been held at Sinuessa, has been adopted in the 
Roman Breviary : but this is accounted for by the want of 
critical acumen at the time when some of the legends were 
inserted. It matters not whether the forger of the acts de- 
signed evil or good by his clumsy contrivance. The compi- 
lers of the Breviary regarded them as genuine, and knowing 
that the personal prevarication of the Pontiff was possible, 
believed it to have actually occurred, which, with admirable 
candor, they recorded, together with his penance and humilia- 
tion. The caution which is justly observed by the rulers oi 
the Church, in admitting any change in the liturgy and office, 
has prevented the correction of this and some few othei 
errors, which, although blemishes, detract but little from the 
general excellence of this beautiful compilation. 

Even under Christian emperors, the Popes continued tc 
suffer from time to time for the integrity of faith, which the} 
intrepidly maintained. The fortitude of Liberius, in the im- 
perial audience at Milan, has been already described, and his 
constancy, whilst an exile and a prisoner, vindicated. Silve- 
rius, in the sixth century, finding himself the object of calum- 

* History of the Popes, 1. i., ch. i., p. 29, American edition. 
- fL.de unico bapt. contra Petil. 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



495 



ny and violence, on account of his known orthodoxy, after 
prayer to God, put himself in the hands of the general, Beli- 
sarius, who, in compliance with the wishes of the heretical 
empress, led him into exile, where he expired by famine. In 
the following century, Martin I. gained the martyr's crown 
by a similar career of suffering. 

To come to recent times, the fortitude of Pius VI. in the 
maintenance of the cause of religion, which was assailed by 
the infidel government of the French revolution, is worthy of 
all admiration. When Napoleon, in the name of the French 
republic, hovered over the ecclesiastical States like a bird of 
prey, seeking to glut himself with human victims, the pater- 
nal heart of the Pontiff led him to make every concession. 
" Had we attempted any defence," he observed, " torrents of 
blood would have flowed to no purpose." The plate of his 
palace, with all that could be gathered from others, was 
sacrificed to pay the immense sum which the general, elate 
with his many victories, demanded ; and every humiliating 
condition was accepted : but when the infidel Directory in- 
sisted on his retracting the condemnation of the civil consti- 
tution of the clergy, the heroic Pius was inflexible : " The 
crown of martyrdom," he observed, " is more brilliant than 
the tiara." When, after immense sacrifices, the French, in 
violation of the treaty of Tolentino, took possession of his 
capital, and Cervoni, in mockery, presented him with the 
French cockade, promising him a pension, he answered : " I 
care for no ornaments but those with which the Church has 
decorated me. You have full power over my body, but not 
over my soul, which defies your utmost efforts. I want n% 
pension. A staff and the coarsest garment are enough for 
me, who, for the maintenance of the faith, am soon to expire 
on ashes." Cervoni persisting in urging him to resign his 
temporal principality, and accept a pension, the aged Pontiff 
replied : " My power comes by free election from God alone, 
and not from men, and I cannot and ought not to resign, it. I 
am now near the eightieth year of my life, and have nothing 
to fear. Whatever violence and indignities may be committed 
against me by those in whose power I am, my soul is still 
free, and so resolute and courageous, that I am ready to meet 
death, rather than dishonor myself, or offend God." After se- 
parating the Pontiff from all his counsellors and friends, and 



496 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



pillaging his palace, Haller, a Swiss Calvinist, in the name of 
the French, intimated to him that he must quit Rome. Pius 
pleaded in vain the weight of his years, his infirmities, which 
at any moment might terminate in death, and his duty, which 
required him to remain. The brutal messenger told him he 
should be forced away, unless he consented. The afflicted 
Pontiff, after pouring out his complaints at the foot of the 
crucifix, bowed in homage to the divine will, and as he rose 
from prayer, exclaimed : " It is the will of God : His holy will 
be done : let us bow to His just decrees." As he descended 
the staircase, he was met by a criminal whom he had par- 
doned, but who, like Semei, exulting in the misfortunes of his 
sovereign, taunted him : " See, tyrant, your reign is at an end." 
Pius replied : " Were I a tyrant, you would not be alive." 
Thus he was hurried away from his capital. On his journey, 
he received a message of condolence from Ferdinand III., 
grand duke of Tuscany, on which occasion he observed : 
" My afflictions encourage me to hope that I am not altogether 
unworthy of being vicar of Jesus Christ, and successor of St. 
Peter. The situation in which you behold me, recalls to our 
minds the early ages of the Church, which were the days of 
her triumphs." When Charles Emmanuel IV., the exiled 
king of Turin, with his wife, visited him in his retreat at the 
Cistercian monastery near Florence, Pius exclaimed : " All in 
this world is vanity. No one can say it more truly than we 
can. Yes : all is vanity, but to love and serve the Giver of 
every blessing. Let us raise our eyes to heaven, where thrones 
are prepared for us, of which men cannot deprive us." After 
a month, Pius was forced from this peaceful asylum, and, not- 
withstanding the testimony of medical men, given on oath, 
that travelling would expose his life to imminent danger, he 
was inhumanly dragged from place to place, without losing 
his patience, or sweetness of disposition. When he had 
reached Turin, and found himself obliged to travel still fur- 
ther, he exclaimed : " The will of God be done. Let us go 
cheerfully whithersoever they please." As he was carried up 
the rugged heights of Mount Cenis, he appeared more happy 
than when borne on a chair of state in the solemn functions 
of the Vatican. The calm resignation and noble demeanor of 
the august prisoner struck with admiration a French Calvin- 
ist, who witnessed the eagerness with which the Catholics 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



497 



rushed to venerate him, as he was hurried on through France. 
A few days before his death at Valence, being presented on 
the balcony of his residence to gratify the devotion of the 
faithful, he recalled to their minds the resemblance which he- 
bore to his insulted and suffering Master, and then, for the last 
time, gave them his blessing. When about to receive the 
holy Eucharist, as a Viaticum, the officiating prelate having 
asked him whether he forgave his enemies, the holy Pontiff, 
raising his eyes to heaven, and then fixing them on a crucifix 
which he held in his hands, answered : " With all my heart." 
This was surely a glorious exhibition of fortitude, resignation, 
and triumphant charity. 

Pius VII., although he displayed a tenderness towards Na- 
poleon amounting to indulgence, was, nevertheless, inflexible 
when faith or principle was in question. No effort could in- 
duce him to receive into favor the constitutional bishops, 
intruded into the episcopal Sees, until, by the retraction of 
their errors, they had disposed themselves for pardon. No im- 
portunities could avail to make him annul the marriage of 
Jerom, brother of the emperor, with an American Protestant 
lady. 

The splendor of the tiara did not dazzle him. He professed 
himself ready to retire to a convent, or to seek a hiding place 
in the catacombs, if the sacrifice of his personal rights could 
appease his persecutor. The offer of pensions and honors 
had no influence on his conduct: "We want," he said, "no 
pension — no honors. The alms of the faithful will suffice for 
our necessities. Other Popes have been poor as we are." 

In maintaining the rights of his See, he was influenced by 
a sacred sense of duty. When the ministers of the emperor 
addressed him in his own palace, with threats of vengeance 
on their lips, should he resist the imperial will, he replied : 
" We have done everything in our power, and we are still 
ready to do all things for harmony and peace, provided princi- 
ple be safe. Our conscience is at stake, and we cannot sacri- 
fice it, even were we to be flayed alive. Such is our natural 
disposition, that we become more inflexible when threats are 
addressed to us. We fear nothing : we are ready for what- 
ever may befall us." 

These heroic sentiments lose something of their grandeur, 
by the momentary weakness into which Pius, when a prisoner 



498 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



at Fontainebleau, was betrayed, by the importunities of his 
advisers, who urged and almost forced him to subscribe to the 
preliminaries of a treaty with Napoleon, which seriously com- 
promised the rights of his office ; but his speedy retraction, 
and his humiliation before the cardinals, changed the fault 
itself into an occasion of new merit. From that time he re- 
fused to enter into any terms, until he should be restored to 
liberty and to his capital. " It may be," he said, " that our 
sins render us unworthy to see Rome again, but our successors 
will recover the States which belong to our See. As to the 
rest, the emperor may be assured that we are not his enemy. 
Religion forbids it." 

God soon cast the mighty emperor from his throne, and 
raised up the humble Pontiff once more to the pinnacle of 
power. Napoleon, by a singular disposition of Providence, 
was compelled to sign his abdication in the very room in 
which he had treated the venerable prisoner with irreverence. 
Pius entered Rome in triumph, amidst the enthusiastic ac- 
clamations of his devoted people. The brilliant illumination 
of the eternal city on the night of his return, rivalled the 
meridian blaze. In this miraculous change the devout Pontiff 
saw no occasion for self-complacency, and indulged no exult- 
ation over his fallen oppressor: on the contrary, he interceded 
with the British government in his behalf, to obtain the miti- 
gation of the rigors of his captivity, and sent a pious priest 
to console and sustain him by the succors of religion. The 
eagle which rose with so much pride and daring at Auster- 
litz, perished on the rock of St. Helena. Pius, notwithstand- 
ing his great age and sufferings, outlived Napoleon, and re- 
ceived the intelligence of his death with the feelings which 
became the fond father of a wayward child. 

Humility likewise was a favorite virtue of the Popes. This 
was specially manifested in the reluctance of many of them 
to accept the office. Leo IV. and Benedict III. were raised, to 
it entirely against their will. Martin IV., with all his might, 
resisted the cardinals, who wished to enthrone him, so that 
his mantle was torn in the struggle. Emilio Altieri, at the 
age of eighty, was declared cardinal by Clement IX. as he 
lay on his dying couch, who foretold his elevation to the Pope- 
dom. When elected, he pleaded, with tears, his advanced 
age, and reluctantly yielded to the wishes of the sacred col- 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



499 



lege. The eleventh Clement, during three days, refused to 
accept the proffered dignity, and actually fell sick in conse- 
quence of the excited state of his feelings. The positive de- 
claration of four eminent divines, that he would sin grievous- 
ly by continuing to resist the manifest will of God, at length 
determined his acceptance. Benedict XIII., who had thrice 
declined the purple, and finally accepted it, in obedience to 
his religious superior, acted under the same orders in yielding 
to the unanimous vote of the sacred college. Clement XIII. 
burst into tears when the result of the election was commu- 
nicated to him. All of these humble Pontiffs seem left in the 
distance by the hermit Peter Moron, who reigned as Celestine 
V., but finding himself unequal to the government of the 
Church, humbly descended from the throne, and sought again 
his loved retreat. Dante, in three words, has immortalized 
" this great abdication : " 

# FECE IL GRAN RIFIUTO. 

The humility of manner of Innocent XI. was such, that 
when he called for any of his servants, it was with the reser- 
vation, " if it was convenient to them ;" # and Clement IX. 
would have no inscription on his tomb but the acknowledg- 
ment that he was dust : Clementis IX. cineres : — " The ashes 
of Clement IX." 

Purity of life is a necessary ornament of the priesthood, 
and should be above suspicion, especially in the representa- 
tive of the Great High Priest. It has ordinarily been the 
characteristic of the occupant of St. Peter's chair. To speak 
only at present of the last three centuries, Paul IV. and Pius 
V., his successor, were distinguished for the most unblemished 
virtue. Gregory XIV., according to the testimony of Ranke, 
was " a soul of virgin innocence."f Paul V. died with the 
reputation of having preserved his virginal integrity, and 
breathed his soul into the hands of his Creator, saying with 
the apostle : " I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ." 
A year after his death, on the opening of his tomb, his body 
was found entire. Of Clement IX., Ranke says : " all those 
virtues which consist in an absence of vices, such as purity 

* Ranke, History of the Popes, 1. viii., § xvi., p. 218. 
f Ibidem, 1. vi., § iv., p. 429. 



500 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



of manners, modesty, temperance, he possessed in an eminent 
degree."* The same unsuspicious witness testifies of Inno- 
cent XL, that he was " of such purity of heart and life, that 
his confessor declared that he had never discovered in him 
anything which could sever the isoul from God."f Benedict 
XIIL, heir of the dukedom of Gravina, through love of holy 
purity, had consecrated himself to God in the order of St. Do- 
minic at the early age of eighteen. " Clement (XIIL.) was a 
man of pure soul and pure intentions : he prayed much and 
fervently."J These are as specimens of the general charac- 
ter of the Popes. The good odor of Jesus Christ was spread 
abroad by most of those who occupied the papal chair. 

§ 3. Recognised Sanctity. 

Eminent holiness distinguished most of the incumbents of 
the Apostolic See, which, on this account, as well as for the 
purity of its doctrine, may be justly styled holy. Resides the 
martyrs of the first three ages, and some of later times, many 
others are enrolled in the catalogue of saints. The sanctity 
of seventy-nine Pontiffs is recognised by the Church, being 
almost a third of the entire series. They are not confined to 
the first six ages, although Gibbon has strangely asserted of 
the apostle of England, that " Gregory is the last of their 
own order whom they have presumed to inscribe in the calen- 
dar of saints."§ The two Gregories, who adorned the eighth 
century, receive the same honor. The sanctity of the former 
so impressed Luitprand, the Lombard king, as he stood in a 
menacing attitude at the gate of Rome, that he abandoned 
the siege, and entered to worship at the tomb of St. Peter, as 
the infidel historian himself testifies : " In arms, at the gate 
of the Vatican, the conqueror listened to the voice of Gregory 
the Second, withdrew his troops, resigned his conquests, re- 
spectfully visited the church of St. Peter, and, after perform- 
ing his devotions, offered his sword and dagger, his cuirass 
and mantle, his silver cross and his crown of gold, on the tomb 
of the apostle."|| St. Zachary, the successor of the third Gre- 

* History of the Popes, vol. ii., p. 158. f Ibidem, 1. viii., § xvii., p. 225. 
% Ibidem, § xviii., p. 236. 

§ History of the Decline and Fall, &c, ch. xlv., A. D. 590. 
1 Ibidem, ch. xlix., A. D. 730-752. 



MORAL INFLUENCE. 



501 



gory, persuaded Rachis, who occupied the throne of Luitprand, 
to exchange the battle-field and palace for the cloister. Pas- 
chal I. is recognised as a saint. Benedict V., who sat as Pon- 
tiff in the decline of the tenth century, is recorded to have 
had the gift of prophecy, and is mentioned in several mar- 
tyrologies. 

In the eleventh century, St. Leo IX. brought to the papal 
throne great purity of life, with apostolic zeal. Stephen X., 
Victor III., and Urban II., are named among the blessed in 
several martyrologies. St. Alexander II. labored to raise the 
clergy to that holiness of life, of which he gave the example : 
but above all the Pontiffs of this age, St. Gregory VII. shines 
with bright lustre, for the intrepidity and perseverance with 
which he strove to purify the sanctuary, and revive the apos- 
tolic spirit in the successors of the apostles. This calumniated 
Pontiff deserves the admiration of all the friends of virtue. 
St. Celestine V. adorned the thirteenth century. Benedict XL, 
who reigned in the early part of the following age, is styled 
Blessed in the Roman martyrology. 

The sixteenth century was edified by the austere virtues of 
St. Pius V. From earliest youth he was devoted to the ser- 
vice of God, and in the highest station he " preserved all his 
austerity, poverty, and humility."* He is the last of the Popes 
whose names have been enrolled among the Saints, although 
since his time, as well as before, many not canonized have 
been eminent for holiness of life. 



* Ranke, History of the Popes, 1. iii., § viii. , p. 217, 



CHAPTER IX. 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 

The charges brought against the Popes are, in many instances, 
totally destitute of foundation. In the fifth century, a schis- 
matical rival accused Symmachus of many crimes : of which, 
however, he was declared innocent by a Council, to which he 
voluntarily submitted the cause for examination. 

The first serious scandal that occurs in the papal history, 
took place at the close of the ninth century, when Stephen, 
who had forcibly taken possession of the See, offered indig- 
nities to the corpse of Formosus, the deceased Pontiff, by 
cutting off the fingers with which he was wont to bless the 
Roman people. The barbarity of this act reflects disgrace 
on the age in which it was perpetrated, and cannot be exten- 
uated by the plea then put forward to justify it, namely, that 
Formosus had violated the canons, through immoderate am- 
bition, by passing from the See of Porto to that of Rome. It 
may relieve our feelings somewhat from the horror of this 
outrage, to know that it was committed by an intruder into 
the See, not by one who entered by canonical election ; and 
though his name still appears on the list of Popes, Graveson, 
a judicious historian, disputes the propriety of its insertion. 
In the scarcity of documents of that period, and in the con- 
fusion which was caused by the violent struggles of secular 
nobles for the mastery of the Church, it is in some cases diffi- 
cult to distinguish with certainty, whether the intrusion was 
remedied by the subsequent acquiescence of the canonical 
electors. These may have yielded to the dire necessity of the 
times, and borne the shame of tolerating unworthy incum- 
bents in the apostolic chair, rather than endanger the unity of 
the Church, by an effort to expel them from a place which 
they had no right to occupy. We must, in such circumstances, 
remember, with St. Leo, that the merit of Peter does not to- 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



503 



tally fail in the unworthy heir of his authority ;* and with St. 
Augustine, that occasion of schism must not be taken from 
the bad examples of those who are in high station : " of 
which," he says, " our Heavenly Master so carefully forewarned 
us, as to give the people an assurance in regard to bad pre- 
lates, lest on their account the chair of saving doctrine should 
be abandoned, in which even bad men are forced to utter 
what is good : for what they say is not their own : it is God's, 
who has placed the doctrine of truth in the chair of unity."f 

The moral character of Sergius III. is grievously assailed by 
Luitprand, a contemporary author, whose testimony, however, 
is weakened by his known adherence to a schismatical rival 
of John XII., and his devotedness to the imperial interests. 
Flodoard, another contemporary writer, represents Sergius as 
a favorite with the Roman people, and a kind pastor of the 
flock. It is doubtful whether Lando, whose character is also 
traduced, should be ranked among the Popes. John X. is 
charged with licentiousness, and with having been accessary 
to the death of Benedict VII. : but Baronius, who believed 
the charges, admits that his administration was better than 
the means used for his promotion would have led us to expect 
Muratori, who with great independence of mind, bordering 
sometimes on temerity, canvassed facts of history, praises him 
as a worthy Pontiff. J He also proves§ that John XI. was son 
of Albericus, Roman consul, and marquis of Tusculum (Fres- 
cati), although Luitprand brands him as a bastard-son of 
Sergius. Ratherius of Verona bears testimony to the noble 
and excellent disposition of John, whom he styles, " gloriosaB 
indolis." John XII. , of the same family, at the age of sixteen 
or eighteen years, seized on the papal crown, and wore it 
without shame during seven years, in which he is said to have 
indulged the worst excesses. The account of his death is 
marked with the character of fable. 

If we admit the correctness of the statements of Luitprand, 
who, in regard to most points, is the principal or only witness, 
and who, to serve his master, the German emperor, strove to 
throw disgrace on the Roman incumbents, the case will 
amount to this, that the counts of Tusculum, who were at the 

* Serm. II. de assumpt. sua ad pontif. 

f Ep. cv., alias clxvii., c. v. n. 16. % Annali d'ltalia, an. 928. 
§ He quotes : Anonymus Salernitanus, in chron. c. cxliii., et Ostiensis, in 
chr. casin., 1. i. c. lxi. 



504 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



same time Roman consuls, had, for a considerable time in the 
tenth century, undue influence and power, so as often to in- 
trude their sons, or relatives, into the papal chair. That no- 
bles whose title was military force, may have been licentious 
before and after their intrusion, can be no matter of surprise : 
and if the providence of God permitted a petty potentate to 
usurp for a time the control of the sanctuary, we must adore 
its counsels, which are mysterious, and admire the power 
which soon loosed the bonds from off the neck of the captive 
daughter of Sion. It should be observed, that national 
jealousy of German influence concurred to favor the intruders. 
" The Germans," says Voltaire, " held the Romans in subjec- 
tion, and the Romans sought every opportunity to break their 
chains. A Pope chosen by the order of the emperor, or named 
by him, was an object of execration to the Romans. The idea 
of restoring the republic was cherished by them ; but this 
noble ambition produced only humiliating and frightful re- 
sults."* It surely is not fair to allege instances which occur- 
red in an unnatural state of things, produced by domestic 
violence, and jealousy of foreign interference, as evidences of 
the spirit and character of the canonical occupants of the 
See ; still less can they be urged to defeat the promises of 
Christ, who, in declaring the Chief Pastor a rock, indicated 
the efforts which hell would make against him and the Church, 
but gave the most solemn assurance that they should not pre- 
vail. 

The charges of ambition, arrogance, and impetuosity, which 
have been made against Boniface VIII., do not appear to be 
well founded. If he advised the holy Pontiff Celestine to ab- 
dicate an office to whose duties he was inadequate, it need 
not be ascribed to secret aspirations after the tiara, for which, 
however, his eminent knowledge and determination of char- 
acter qualified him. The imprisonment of the unambitious 
hermit, which has brought censure on Boniface, may have 
been necessary to guard against the wiles of bad men, who 
might abuse his simplicity to cause a schism, by persuading 
him that he could not lawfully part with the power which 
God had committed, to him. In the proceedings against Philip 
the Fair, Boniface contended for justice and the immunities 
of the Church, advancing no claim which his predecessors 



* Essai sur l'Histoire Generale, ch. xxxiii. 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



505 



had not put forward, and proceeding with the deliberation 
and maturity which always distinguish the Roman court. 
When the emissaries of the monarch approached to seize on 
his person, he acted with composure and dignity, declaring, 
that like his Divine Master, he was betrayed, but that he 
would die as a Pope, with which view he robed himself in the 
ornaments of his ministry, and, enfolded in his pontifical 
mantle, with the tiara on his head, the keys in one hand and 
the cross in the other, he awaited, with majestic air, the ap- 
proach of the rebel Colonna, and the daring French general 
Nogaret. It is not surprising that the indignities offered to his 
sacred person should have resulted in his death ; but the dis- 
covery of his body entire three centuries afterwards, was a 
splendid refutation of the fable that he had died in the 
writhings of despair. In the person of this magnanimous 
Pontiff, God gave us the example of noble demeanor under 
wrongs, that resemble the insults of the pretorian hall. 

That future ills, compared with past, may seem 
Less grievous of endurance, see advance 
Through sad Anagnia's gates, with dazzling gleam 
Of spears uplifted, the proud sons of France. 

Lo ! in his Vicar, Christ is captive made ! 
With bitter mockery they insult his woe ! 
The triple crown from his anointed head 
Is dashed : his cheek receives an impious blow. 

Pilate reluctant Jesus doomed to die, 
Weakly o'erawed by threat of Caesar's ire : 
Nogaret proudly dares high heaven defy, 
Nor fear nor pity does his soul inspire.* 

The memory of Clement V. comes down to us charged with 
having ambitiously intrigued for the tiara, by promising to 

* Perche men paja il mal futuro e'l fatto, 
Veggio in Alagna entrar lo fiordaliso, 
E nel vicario suo Cristo esser catto. 

Veggiolo un altra volta esser deriso ; 
Veggio rinnovelar l'aceto e'l fele, 
E tra vivi ladroni essere anciso. 

Veggio '1 nuovo Pilato si crudele 
Che cio nol sazia, ma senza decreto 
Porta nel tempio le cupide vele. 

Dante, Purgatorio, c. xx. 85, 



506 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



Philip the Fair to rescind the acts of Boniface, and to con- 
descend to his will on some important point, not then dis- 
closed. This compact originally rests on the authority of 
Villani, a partisan of the schismatical Louis of Bavaria. On 
the same suspicious testimony, his supposed amours with the 
countess of Perigord have been too lightly credited, notwith- 
standing the silence of his early biographers, six in number. 
But the suppression of the knights templars, which resulted 
in the capital punishment of a large number of them, by the 
authority of Philip, was a measure of fearful responsibility, 
the justice of which is an historical problem, perhaps never 
to be solved. His permission for the opening of the process 
against the memory of Boniface, which is objected to him as 
an act of criminal condescension, was probably given in the 
confidence that it would result, as in fact it did, in his entire 
acquittal. " All this grand display of Philip the Fair," it is 
Voltaire who speaks, " resulted in his shame. On the great 
theatre of the world, you will never see a king of France pre- 
vail, in the end, over a Pope."* Villani has attacked the 
moral character of Clement VI., but I feel dispensed from 
vindicating it, whilst it is assailed only by the professed enemy 
of the lawful Pontiffs. 

The sudden death of Paul II., who was found dead in his 
bed, arose from an unwholesome supper on melons, and it was 
not attended with any disgraceful circumstances. Although 
his life was not austere, there is not any ground for censuring 
his conduct, unless his failure to observe the conditions to 
which, in common with the other cardinals in conclave, he had 
bound himself. This, however, may be accounted for by the 
necessity of his situation, in which he may have deemed it 
injurious to observe restrictions which were unwisely imposed 
on an authority which Christ willed to be free. Above a cen- 
tury before, Innocent VI. had declared such engagements to 
be radically null. 

Of two Popes, it is certain that previously to their entrance 
into orders, they had become fathers, either by secret mar- 
riages, as some contend, or out of wedlock. John Baptist 
Cibo, son of a Roman senator, who was made Viceroy of 
Naples, had two children by a Neapolitan lady, whilst living 



* Essai sur l'Histoire Generate, t. ii., ch. lxi. 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



507 



in his father's court. He afterwards entered the ecclesiasti- 
cal career, in which his conduct won general esteem, and 
secured his promotion to the episcopacy, and, finally, to the 
government of the Universal Church. Innocent VIIL, during 
the first five years of his pontificate, manifested no peculiar 
tenderness to his children, Franceschetto Cibo and Theodo- 
rina : which provoked the remonstrances of Lorenzo de Me- 
dicis, then esteemed the wisest man in Italy. His judgment 
may have been warped in this instance by the intermarriage 
of his son with Theodorina. The Pontiff proved himself 
thenceforward an indulgent parent, and freely bestowed on 
his offspring the riches of the Church, for which he has de- 
served censure. 

Paul III. owned as his son Pier Luigi Farnese, who was al- 
leged to be the fruit of a secret marriage before his father 
entered into orders. His grandson Alexander was promoted 
to the purple, which he adorned by his virtues. Paul was 
truly a great Pontiff, whose administration was most advan- 
tageous to the Church : but the lustre of his reign was tar- 
nished by this circumstance. 

Two others are admitted to have fallen into temptation 
before entering the ecclesiastical state. The ardor of the 
martial Julius II. betrayed him in youth into excess, and a 
daughter, the fruit of his passion, was owned by him in after- 
life. Her children were promoted to the purple. Since St. 
Francis de Paula is known to have foretold to him his eleva- 
tion to the papal throne, we have reason to believe, that after 
his entrance into orders, his morals were blameless. Ugo 
Buoncompagno, a jurist of Bologna, who rose into life in the 
civil service, had a son born out of wedlock. He afterwards 
entered the sanctuary, in which he acquired esteem for in- 
tegrity and talent, and, at the age of seventy, he was chosen 
to fill St. Peter's chair under the name of Gregory XIII. 
Ranke acknowledges that " his life and conversation were 
not only blameless, but edifying."* This being the case, it is 
extreme rigor to make the frailty of his early life a subject of 
reproach to him as Pontiff, whilst his subsequent course was 
so exemplary. No one thinks of disparaging the high cha- 
racter of St. Augustin on account of the disorders of his 
youth. In estimating the moral influence of the Popes, we 
* History of the Popes, 1. iv., § hi. p. 255. 



508 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



should consider especially their public administration, and 
their personal conduct in office, in connection with their whole 
ecclesiastical career. 

The censures which have been passed on Leo X., have no 
other foundation than the amenity of his manners, his par- 
tiality for poets, whose compositions were not always strictly 
governed by rules of propriety, his fondness for musical en- 
tertainments, and other peculiarities, some of which were 
scarcely consistent with the gravity of a bishop burdened 
with the solicitude of all the churches. " Leo's gay and 
graceful court," saj^s Ranke, '* was not in itself deserving of 
censure : yet it were impossible to deny that it was little an- 
swerable to the character and position of head of the Church."* 
Luther and Erasmus both bore testimony to the integrity of 
his morals. He had his practices of mortification and self- 
denial, especially the weekly fast of Saturday, and he per- 
formed the sacred functions, as Roscoe testifies, with dignity 
and decorum. 

John Baptist Pamfili, at the age of seventy-two, was ele- 
vated to the popedom under the title of Innocent X., an honor 
which St. Felix of Cantalicio had predicted. There is no 
foundation whatever for any charge against his morals, al- 
though he entrusted the management of his palace to his 
aged sister-in-law, and deferred too much to her caprice. " In 
his earlier career in the Rota, as nuncio, and as cardinal, he 
had shown himself industrious, blameless, and upright, and 
this reputation he still preserved."! Such is the impartial 
testimony of Ranke, who explains the motives which influenced 
his conduct in regard to Donna Olimpia. " Pope Innocent was 
under obligations to his sister-in-law, Donna Olimpia Malda- 
chini, of Viterbo, especially in consequence of the large for- 
tune she had brought into the house of Pamfili. He also re- 
garded it as a high merit on her part, that after the death of 
his brother, she had never chosen to marry again. This had 
been productive of advantage to himself, since he had con- 
stantly left the economical affairs of the family to her guid- 
ance ; it was, therefore, no wonder if she now acquired great 
influence in the administration of the papacy."f 

* History of the Popes, 1. i., ch. ii., p. 61. 
f Ibidem, vol. ii., 1. viii., § v., p. 150. 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



509 



There is one Pope, however, who seems to have no advo- 
cate to attempt his justification,* and but few to offer anything 
in mitigation of sentence. Roderico Lenzoli, nephew by his 
sister to Callistus III., was allowed by his too-indulgent uncle 
to assume the family name of Borgia, only to attach to it in- 
delible disgrace. The levity of his manners had provoked 
reproof from Pius II., but his splendid talents and fascinating 
manners served to conceal, or partially to redeem his vices. 
Whilst cardinal, occupying offices of the highest confidence, 
he became the father of four children, by a Roman lady of 
noble family, whose marriage cloaked the adulterous intrigue ; 
notwithstanding which enormous scandal, he was chosen, at 
the age of sixty-one, to occupy the papal chair. His election 
is alleged to have been accomplished by bribery. Cesar, his 
favorite son, was promoted to the office of cardinal deacon, 
but soon released from his obligations, that he might pursue, 
unrestrained by considerations of decorum, a career better 
suited to his passions and ambition. His brother Peter Louis 
was assassinated, not without suspicion of the murder being 
cast on Cesar, although most probably without the slightest 
foundation. The accomplished Lucretia sat in her father's 
palace, and incurred the foulest censure, as if living in the 
habitual indulgence of the most unnatural incest: a stain 
which Roscoe has generously removed. The death of Sizim, 
brother of Bajazet, the Sultan, which occurred shortly after 
he had been delivered up by Alexander to Charles VIII., was 
ascribed to slow poison, which was alleged to have been ad- 
ministered to him by order of the Pontiff : but this most im- 
probable surmise deserves no attention. Prince Cantemir 
saj T s that his barber cut his throat. " Prince Cantemir and 
the accusers of Alexander VI. may be mistaken. The hatred 
entertained for this Pontiff led men to charge him with every 
crime which he could commit."-)- His apologist is Voltaire, 
who indignantly rejects the tale of his having drunk by mis- 
take poison prepared by his orders for a cardinal, whose wealth 
he coveted. The journal of the attending physician certifies 
that he died of fever, after having received the last sacra- 
ments.J A Spanish critic observes, that the popular hatred 

* Audin, in his Life of Leo X., has almost ventured, 
f Essai sur l'Histoire Generale, t. iii., ch. ciii. 
% Dissert, sur la mort d'Henri IV., also Essai sur l'Hist., ch. cvii. 

32 



510 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



no doubt gave rise to most exaggerated reports.* We must, 
however, acknowledge that his elevation was disgraceful, and 
his government calamitous. In several instances he indeed 
made wise decrees, and patronized learning, and the military 
genius of Cesar contributed to the strength of his civil sove- 
reignty ; yet it was an enormous scandal to the Christian 
world, that an immoral man should occupy the Holy See, and 
cherish, with the blindness of parental love, a licentious and 
daring soldier. In such circumstances, the faithful under- 
stood the force of the warning of Christ, that we should do 
what we are taught by those who fill the chair of authority, 
but should not imitate their perverse actions. 

As temporal sovereigns of the Roman States, the Popes 
have incurred much censure, although they have been truly 
the fathers of their people. Several of them deserve the 
praise of great as well as good princes. The clemency of 
Paul I. towards criminals is marked on the page of history, 
and his successor Hadrian receives commendation for the ex- 
ercise of the same most comely attribute of sovereignty. 

" No ceremony that to great ones 'longs, 
Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword, 
The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe, 
Become them with one-half so good a grace 
As mercy does."f 

Of Hadrian, Gibbon writes : " He secretly edified the throne 
of his successors, and displayed in a narrow space the virtues 
of a great prince."J Of those who seized the pontificate in 
the tenth century, Voltaire remarks : " Those Popes whom 
posterity has branded as immoral, were far from being inca- 
pable princes. John X. was a man of genius and courage, 
and accomplished what his predecessors had never been able 
to effect, having driven the Saracens from that part of Italy 
called Garillan."§ With better reason he praises Martin V., 
who combined the high qualities of a prince with the virtues 
of a bishop.|| Paul II. united justice with clemency, not suf- 
fering crime to go unpunished, and yet condemning no one to 
death. Clement VII. was a sovereign worthy of his name. 

* Teatro Critico por D. Fr. B. G. Feyoo, t. iv., disc, viii., p. 212. 
f Measure for Measure. % Decline and Fall, &c, ch. xlix., A. D. 800. 
Essai sur PHistoire Generate, ch. xxxi. j| Ibid, ch. lxviii. 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 511 

Some Popes are accused of extreme severity in the punish- 
ment of crime. The mode of the death of some cardinals 
convicted of conspiracy against Urban VI., is revolting to our 
sense of humanity ; yet Leo X., a Pontiff of acknowledged 
humanity, condemned to death some others on a similar 
charge. Treason against the sovereign is everywhere the 
highest crime against society, and is punished in a manner to 
strike all with horror. The natural character of Sixtus V. 
seems to have been humane, since " when his nephew, the 
husband of Vittoria Accorambuoni, was murdered, he was 
the first to entreat the Pope to let the investigation drop."* 
As sovereign of the Roman States, he appeared invested with 
terrific attributes, because the ravages of the bandittis that 
overspread the country, required an extraordinary exercise of 
justice, and the encroachments of the nobles provoked mea- 
sures of repression. " After chastising the offending feuda- 
tories, he sought rather to conciliate and attach the other 
barons."f 

Sixtus IV. has been charged with participating in the dia- 
bolical conspiracy of the Pazzi, a noble family of Florence, 
which resulted in the assassination of Julian de Medici, at 
solemn mass in the Dome of Florence. The presence of his 
nephew, Cardinal Raffaello Riario, on the occasion, and the 
known partiality of the Pontiff for the Pazzi, are the only 
grounds for suspecting his concurrence, which his general 
character, as well as the sanctity of his station, forbid us to 
suppose. 

Blame is ascribed to Sixtus for his solicitude to maintain 
the temporal interests of his See, which, as a sovereign, he 
was bound to guard. In reference to the disputed territory of 
Rovigno, in Romagna, Ranke observes : " The other powers 
of Italy were already contending for possession, or for as- 
cendency, in these territories, and, if there were any question 
of right, the Pope had manifestly a better right than any 
other."J 

The imputation of bad faith towards his allies seems un- 
founded. He had solicited the aid of the Venetians to repel 
the attack of the king of Naples, who having unconditionally 

* Ranke, History of the Popes, 1. iv., § iy., p. 287. 

f Ibidem, § vi., p. 271. % Ibidem, 1. i. ch. ii., p. 47, vol. u 



512 CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 

submitted, took away all legitimate pretext for continuing 
hostilities. Sixtus then besought the Venetians to desist from 
the siege of Ferrara, the duke of that place being son-in-law 
of the king. When his intreaties proved unavailing, he found 
himself under the necessity of joining the other Italian princes 
in a league against his former allies ; and by the advice of a 
Council held at Cremona, he excommunicated the Venetians 
for opposing the peace of Italy, which was always dear to 
his heart. 

Julius II. incurred censure for similar causes. In main- 
taining his temporal rights, he displayed great determination 
of character, and military courage, not easily reconcilable 
with his office as representative of the Prince of Peace. Jus- 
tice, however, was on his side ; and his patriotism, which 
never suffered him to falter in his resolution to drive the bar- 
barians beyond the Alps, has gained the admiration of Vol- 
taire himself.* His change of policy does not imply a breach 
of faith. When his French allies seemed disposed to remain 
as conquerors, where they had appeared only to aid him in 
the recovery of his dominions, it was not inconsistent with his 
engagements to join the Venetians, who had submitted, in 
order to force back the French to their own territories. He 
never meant to sacrifice the independence of Italy. His prince- 
ly qualities are witnessed by Ranke : " He endeavored every- 
where to appear as a liberator : he treated his new subjects 
wisely and well, and secured their attachment and fidelity."! 

It may be difficult to satisfy all readers of the justice of the 
measures which the Pontiffs, in their capacity of sovereigns, 
have from time to time adopted : nor is it necessary that they 
should meet our approval. " We must distinguish," as Vol- 
taire well observes, " the Pontiff from the sovereign." J As 
Catholics, we are not concerned with the temporal adminis- 
tration of the Roman States, and need not inquire whether it 
has been just and paternal, or whether the sovereign has 
maintained the proper relations to foreign powers. Even the 
personal character of the Popes no farther interests us than 
as we should naturally desire that the Chief Bishop of the 
Church should sustain the purity of the Christian law by the 

* Lettre a Mr. Norberg, t. viii. 

f History of the Popes, 1. ii., ch. ii, p. 52. % Ubi supra. 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



513 



influence of his example. Thanks be to Heaven, the general 
conduct of the successors of Peter has been worthy of their 
station, and may well be referred to as serving to recommend 
that authority which they have exercised for the interests of 
truth and piety. 

Partiality for their relatives, whom they employed in offices 
of high importance with great revenues, has brought censure 
on several of the Popes, whose personal conduct was blame- 
less. Nepotism, as this vice is technically styled, has caused, 
no doubt, great evils to the Church, but it is so natural to 
favor those of our own kindred, that it should not be too 
severely condemned, unless they be undeserving of confidence. 
In fact, we owe to the fond affection of Pius IV. for his 
nephew Charles Borromeo, the immense advantages which 
the Church at large derived from his labors and examples in 
the high offices which his uncle lavished on him when but 
scarcely arrived at manhood ; and had the holy Pontiff Bene- 
dict XIII. called to his Council his relatives, who were persons 
of high probity and exemplary piety, the abuse which an up- 
start favorite made of his confidence would have been avoid- 
ed. Nevertheless, it is but rarely that relatives do not avail 
themselves of their position for self-aggrandizement, and 
several Pontiffs might say, at the close of a career otherwise 
illustrious, with Paul III., " Had not my relatives ruled, I 
should have been without stain." The austere virtue of Paul 
IV. was not proof against the blinding influence of kindred 
ties, and too late he discovered the iniquities and oppression 
practised in his name by the Caraffas, whom he at once ban- 
ished from his court, leaving to his successor, Pius IV., the sad 
office of condemning one of them to an ignominious death. 

Many of the Popes evinced heroic detachment from flesh 
and blood, not being willing that the natural ties should con- 
tract their hearts, which were made to embrace the entire 
world. Clement IV. and Martin IV. were distinguished for 
this virtue. When the brother of Martin repaired to court, 
the Pope dismissed him with a small gift to meet the expenses 
of his journey, observing, that he could not employ the riches 
of the Church as if they were his paternal estate. Leo XL, 
during a short pontificate of seventeen days, gave evidence 
of an inflexible determination to indulge no human affection 
with danger to the interests of religion, since he resisted the 
pressing solicitations of the cardinals to raise his nephew to 



514 



CHARGES AGAINST THE POPES. 



their rank. The eleventh Innocent, during thirteen years of 
pontifical administration, kept himself free from all imputa- 
tion of inordinate attachment to his relatives. Innocent XII., 
who called the poor his nephews, made stringent decrees 
against nepotism, which Clement XL, his successor, faithfully 
observed. During eleven years he deferred their promotion, 
although they were men of distinguished merit. On his death- 
bed he could say with truth, that conscience alone had regu- 
lated his course in their regard. When the learned and face- 
tious Lambertini was raised to the pontifical throne, under the 
name of Benedict XIV., he ordered his nephew, who was a 
senator of Bologna, not .to come to Rome until he should be 
invited, and he took care never to give the invitation. Cle- 
ment XIV. could not be prevailed on to send special messen- 
gers to apprise his three sisters of his elevation, observing 
that they were not wont to receive ambassadors, and that the 
poor of Christ were his family. No one could prevail on him 
to admit any of his relatives to his presence, or to send them 
any gift. Pius VII. and Leo XII., among the Pontiffs of our 
own age, have merited the praise of similar detachment. 
"When Pius VIII. was chosen to fill St. Peter's chair, he wrote 
affectionate letters to his nephews, warning them, however, 
not to indulge in any pomp, or pride, but to pray to God in his 
behalf. " Let none of you," said he, " leave his dwelling or 
post. We love you in God." 

I shall now relieve the reader from this prolonged investi- 
gation, with an appeal to his conscience, whether there ever 
has existed any series of rulers in the Church or in the State, 
so illustrious as the succession of Roman Bishops. They have 
been the defenders of the faith, the fathers of the poor, the 
friends of order and virtue, and the benefactors of society. 
Whilst intent on executing the divine commission to teach all 
nations, they have not considered it inconsistent with their 
sublime office to cherish genius and reward industry, fostering 
art, literature and science, with a partiality that might appear 
extreme. If a cloud has sometimes passed over that See, 
which shines in the Church like the sun in the firmament, it 
soon passed away, and left the world in admiration of the 
flood of light which, with undiminished force, continued to 
flow for the illumination of those who sat in darkness, and in 
the shadow of death. Sooner shall the orb of day be extin- 
guished, than the prayer of Christ for Peter shall fail. 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



FIRST CENTURY. 

1. St. Peter from the East, where he is believed to have founded the 

See of Antioch, passed to Rome ; returned to the East, when the 
Jews were expelled by Claudius ; returned to Rome, and died a 
martyr with St. Paul on 29th June, 66 * 

2. St. Linus M.f 

3. St. Anacletus M.| 

4. St. Clement M.§ 

SECOND CENTURY. 



5. 


St. 


EVARISTUS M. 


6. 


St. 


Alexander M. 


7. 


St. 


Sixtus I. M. 


8, 


St. 


Telesphorus M. 


9. 


St. 


Hyginus M. 



* According to Foggini and Tillemont. The testimony of the ancient 
writers is unanimous as to the establishment of the Church of Rome by Peter 
and Paul, and as to their martyrdom at Rome. It is not easy, however, to 
determine the precise year of the first visit of Peter to Rome, or of the mar- 
tyrdom of both apostles. 

f Tertullian (1. de prescript.) says that the Roman Church proves the suc- 
cession of her bishops by pointing to Clement, ordained by Peter : but this 
does not necessarily imply that he was the immediate successor of the apostle. 
Irenaeus, who was prior to Tertullian, states distinctly that Linus received 
from Peter the administration of the Church, and immediately succeeded him. 

J Cletus and Anacletus are found in ancient catalogues, and the learned 
are not agreed as to their identity. St. Irenaeus makes no mention of Cletus, 
and styles Sixtus the sixth from the apostles, which excludes Cletus. 

§ Clement is put before Anacletus in the list of St. Augustin (Ep. liii. alias 
civ.) The authority of Irenaeus seems preferable. From the doubts concern- 
ing the order in which they succeeded, and the want of specifications in the 
lists, it seems impossible to fix the chronology of this very early period, as 
Petau and Fleury have acknowledged. 



516 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



10. St. Pius I* 

11. St. Anicetijs M. In his pontificate Polycarp came to Rome in 
158. Anicetus died in 161. 

12. St. Soter M. sat until 170. 

13. St. Eleutherius M. sat from 170 until 185. t 

14. St. Victor I. M. sat from 185 until 197. 

15. St. Zephtrinus M. sat from 197 until 217. 

THIRD CENTURY. 

16. St. Callistus I. M. sat from 217 until 222. 

17. St. Urban I. M. sat from 222 until 230. 

18. St. Pontian M. sat from 230 until 235. 

19. St. Anteros M. sat from 21st November, 235, until 3d January, 
236. 

20. St. Fabian M. elected 11th January, 236, sat until 20th January, 
250. 

21. St. Cornelius M. elected in June, 251, died in banishment on 
14th September, 252. 

22. St. Lucius M. died on 4th March, 253. 

23. St. Stephen M. elected on 13th May, 253, sat until 2d August, 
257. 

24. St. Xystus II. M. died on 6th August, 258. 

25. St. Denys M. sat until 26th December, 269. 

26. St. Felix I. M. elected on 28th September, 269, died on 22d 
December, 274. 

27. St. Eutychian elected on 5th January, 275, died on 7th Decem- 
ber, 283. 

28. St. Cajus M. elected on 15th December, 283, died on 21st April, 
296. 

29. St. Marcellinus M. elected on 3d May, 296, died on 26th April, 
304. 

FOURTH CENTURY. 

30. St. Marcellus I. M. sat one year and eight months, and died 
in 309. 

* The Papal chronology in the second century is likewise imperfect from 
the want of specifications in the authentic lists. 

t The list of St. Irenaeus closes with Eleutherius. Hegesippus, a convert 
from Judaism, composed a list at the same time. 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES, 



517 



31. St. Eusebius M. elected in April, 310, sat until 26th September. 

32. St. Miltiades M. elected on 2d July, 311, died on 10th January, 
314. 

33. St. Sylvester I. elected on 30th January, 314, died on 31st 
December, 335. 

34. St. Mark created Pope 18th January, 336, died 7th October, 336, 

35. St. Jtjlius I. elected on 26th October, 336, sat until 12th April, 
352. 

36. St. Liberius was elected on 8th May, 352. Felix LT. was in- 
truded in 355.* Liberius was restored in 359 : he died on 23d 
September, 366. 

37. St. Damasus I. sat from 1st October, 366, until 11th December, 
384. 

38. St. Siricius sat from 12th January, 385, until 22d February, 398, 

39. St. Anastasius I.f sat from December, 398, until 14th Decem- 
ber, 401. 

FIFTH CENTURY. 

40. St. Innocent I. sat until 12th March, 417. 

41. St. Zosimus sat from 17th March, 417, until 26th December, 418, 

42. St. Boniface I. sat from 29th December, 418, until 4th Septem- 
ber, 422. 

43. St. Celestine I. sat from 10th September, 422, until 18th July, 
432. 

44. St. Sixtus LIT. sat from 24th July, 432, until 11th August, 440. 

45. St. Leo the Great sat from 22d September, 440, until 4th No- 
vember, 461. 

46. St. Hilary sat from 12th November, 461, until 21st February, 
468. 

47. St. Simplicius sat from 25th February, 468, until 1st March, 483, 

48. St. Felix HI. sat from 6th March, 483, until 24th February, 492, 

49. St. G-elasius I. sat from 1st March, 493, until 21st November, 
496. 

50. St. Anastasius II. sat from 24th November, 496, until 17th 
November, 498. 



* Felix is put in the list of Popes by many : St. Augustin omits him, 
t The list of St. Augustin ends with Anastasius. 



518 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



51. St. Symmachus sat from 22d November, 498, until 19th July, 
514. 

SIXTH CENTTJKY. 

52. St. Hormisdas sat from 26th July, 514, until 6th August, 523. 

53. St. John I. sat from 13th August, 523, until May, 526. 

54. St. Felix IV. sat from 12th July, 526, until 13th September, 
529. 

55. Boniface II. sat from 31st September, 529, until 16th December, 
532. 

56. John II. sat from 20th January, 532, until 26th May, 535. 

57. St. Agapetus I. sat from 13th June, 535, until 22d April, 536. 

58. St. Sylverius created 8th June, 536, removed in June, 538, died 
on 20th June, 540. 

59. Vigilius intruded, afterwards legitimate, sat until June, 554. 

60. Pelagius I. died in March, 560. 

61. John III. sat from 18th July, 560, until 13th July, 573. ' 

62. St. Benedict I. sat from 3d June, 574, until 30th July, 578. 

63. Pelagius II. sat from 30th November, 578, until 8th February, 
590. 

64. St. G-regory the Great sat from 3d September, 590, until 12th 
March, 604. 

SEVENTH century. 

65. Sabinian sat from 13th September, 604, to 22d February, 606. 

66. Boniface III. sat from 19th February, 607, to 10th November, 
607. 

67. St. Boniface IV. sat from 25th August, 608, until 7th May, 615. 

68. St. Duesdedit sat from 19th October, 615, until 9th November, 
618. 

69. Boniface V. sat from 23d December, 619, until 22d October, 625. 

70. Honorius I. sat from 27th October, 625, until 12th October, 638. 

71. Severinus sat from 28th May, 640, until 1st August, 640. 

72. John IV. sat from 24th December, 640, until 11th October, 642. 

73. Theodore sat from 24th November, 642, until 13th May, 649. 

74. St. Martin I. M. sat from 5th July, 549, until 16th September, 
655. 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



519 



75. St. Eugenius I. was chosen on 8th September, 654, in the lifetime 
of Martin, by the clergy, intimidated by the Exarch of Ravenna. 
Eugenius died on 2d June, 657. 

76. St. Vitalian sat until 17th January, 672. 

77. Adeodatus IT. sat from 22d April, 672, until 26th June, 676. 

78. Donus I. sat from 1st November, 676, until 11th April, 678. 

79. St. Agatho sat from 27th June, 678, until 10th January, 682. 

80. St. Leo II. sat until 3d July, 683. 

81. St. Benedict II. sat until 7th May, 685. 

82. John V. sat from 23d July, 685, until 1st August, 686. 

83. Conon sat from 21st October, 686, until 21st September, 687. 

84. St. Sergius I. sat from 15th December, 687, until 7th September, 
701. 

EIGHTH century. 

85. John VI. sat from 28th October, 701, to 9th January, 705. 

86. John VII. sat from 1st March, 705, until 17th October, 707. 

87. Sisinnius sat from 18th January, 708, until 7th February. 708. 

88. Constantine sat from 25th March, 708, until 8th April, 715. 

89. St. Gregory H. sat from 19th May, 715, until 10th February, 
731. 

90. St. Gregory III. sat from 18th March, 731, until 27th Novem- 
ber, 741. 

91. St. Zacharias sat from 30th November, 741, until 14th March, 
752. 

92. Stephen II.* elected on 27th March, 752, died in three days. 

93. Stephen III. sat from March, 752, until 24th April, 757. 

94. St. Paul I. sat from 29th May, 757, until 28th June, 767. 

95. Stephen IV. sat from 5th August, 768, until 1st February, 772. 

96. Hadrian I. sat from 9th February, 772, until 25th December, 
795. 

97. St. Leo III. sat from 26th December, 795, until 11th June, 816. 

ninth century. 

98. Stephen V. sat from 22d June, 816, until 24th January, 817. 

* He was not consecrated, and he is therefore passed over in most of the lists, 
from which circumstance a difference arises in numbering the popes of that 
name. 



520 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



99. St. Paschal I. sat from 25th January, 817, until 10th February, 
824. 

100. Eugene II. sat from 16th February, 824, until August, 827. 

101. Valentine elected on 1st September, 827, sat 40 days. 

102. Gregory IV. elected on 14th September, 827, sat until 26th Jan- 
uary, 844. 

103. Sergius II. sat from 10th February, 844, until 27th January, 
847. 

104. St. Leo IV. sat from 11th April, 847, until 17th July, 855. 

105. Benedict III. elected on 17th July, 855, consecrated on 29th 
September, sat until 8th April, 858. 

106. St. Nicholas I. sat from 24th April, 858, until 13th November, 
867. 

107. Hadrian II. sat from 14th December, 867, until 26th November, 
872. 

108. John VIII. sat from 14th December, 872, until 15th December, 

882. 

109. Marinus sat from 23d December, 882, until 23d February, 884. 

110. Hadrian III. sat from 1st March, 884, until 8th July, 885. 

111. Stephen VI. elected on 15th July, 885, died in September, 891. 

112. Formosus sat from September, 891, until 4th April, 896. Ste- 
phen VII. intruded on 22d May, 896, was strangled in prison in 
897.* 

113. Romanus sat from 17th September, 897, until 8th February, 898. 

114. Theodore II. elected on 12th February, 898, lived only 20 days. 

115. John IX. elected on 12th March, 898, sat until August, 900. 

TENTH CENTURY. 

116. Benedict IV. elected in August, 900, sat until 20th October, 903. 

117. Leo V. elected on 28th October, 903, died after one month and 
nine days. Christopher, an intruder, occupied the See during six 
months. 

118. Sergius III. was consecrated on 9th June, 904, and sat until 
August, 911. 

119. Anastasius III. sat until 20th October, 913. 

* Stephen is commonly put in the list of Popes, although Graveson holds 
him to be an intruder. 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



521 



120. Lando sat from October, 913, until 26th April, 914. 

121. John X. sat from 30th April, 914, was suffocated in prison on 2d 
July, 928. 

123. Leo VI. sat from July, 928, until February, 929. 

123. Stephen VIII. sat from February, 929, until March, 931. 

124. John XL sat from March, 931, until January, 936. 

125. Leo VII. sat from January, 936, until July, 939. 

126. Stephen IX. sat from July, 939, until December, 942. 

127. Marinus II. sat from February, 942, until June, 946. 

128. Agapetus II. sat from June, 946, until August, 956. 

129. John XII. Octavian, the first who changed his name, held the 
Pontificate from 20th August, 956, until May, 964. 

130. Benedict V. elected on 19th May, 964, sat until 4th July, 965. 

131. John XIII. sat from 1st October, 965, until 6th September, 972. 

132. Benedict VI. sat from December, 972, until 974. 

133. Donus sat until 975. 

134. Benedict VII. sat from March, 975, until 10th July, 984. 

135. John XIV. died in 985, after governing during 8 months. 

136. John XV. (or XVI.)* sat from December, 985, until April, 996. 

137. Gregory V. sat from May, 996, until 18th February, 999. 

138. Sylvester II. elected on 28th February, consecrated on 2d April, 
999, sat until 11th May, 1003. 

ELEVENTH CENTURY. 

139. John XVII. (XVIIL)t elected on 9th June, 1003, and conse- 
crated on 15th, died the same year. 

140. John XVIII. (XIX.) consecrated on 26th December, 1003, died in 
May, 1009. 

141. Sergius IV. sat until 18th August, 1012. 

142. Benedict VIII. succeeded, but was expelled by the anti-pope Gre- 
gory, and restored by St. Henry, king of Germany. He died in the 
year 1024. 

143. John XIX. (XX.) sat from June, 1024, until the year 1033. 

144. Benedict IX. was elected on 9th December, 1033. He was de- 
posed by the Romans in a revolt on 29th June, 1037. In May, 

* Another John died without being consecrated, or was not true Pope : 
whence there is a difference in the numbers. 

f An anti-pope John in 997 increased the number. 



522 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



1044, he was driven away a second time. He abdicated in favor of 
Gregory VI., but returned, and occupied the See during 8 months, 
until 17th July, 1048. He interfered in the election in April, 1054 ; 
but is said to have died penitent at G-rotta Ferrata. 

145. Gregory VI. obtained from Benedict the renunciation of his 
claims in 1044, and sat 2 years and 8 months, but resigned in the 
council of Sutri. 

146. Clement II. sat from 25th December, 1046, until 9th October, 
1047. 

147. Damasus II. created on 17th July, 1048, sat 23 days. 

148. St. Leo IX.* elected on 2d February, 1049, enthroned on 12th, 
sat until 19th April, 1054. 

149. Victor II. elected on 13th April, 1055, enthroned on 16th, sat 
until 28th July, 1057. 

150. Stephen X. sat from 2d August, 1057, until 29th March, 1058. 

151. Nicholas II. sat from 28th December, 1058, until 22d July, 1061. 

152. St. Alexander II. sat from 1st October, 1061, until 21st April, 
1073. 

153. St. Gregory VII. sat from 22d April, 1073, until 25th May, 
1085. 

154. Victor III. sat from 24th May, 1086, (after refusing during an en- 
tire year) until 16th September, 1087. 

155. Urban II. sat from 12th March, 1088, until 29th July, 1099. 

TWELFTH CENTURY. 

156. Pascal II. sat from 13th August, 1099, until 21st January, 1118. 

157. Gelasius II. sat from 28th January, 1118, until 29th January, 
1119. 

158. Callistus II. sat from 1st February, 1119, until 13th December, 
1124. 

159. Honoritis II. sat from 21st December, 1124, until 14th February, 
1130. 

160. Innocent II. sat from 15th February, 1130, until 24th September, 
1143. 

161. Celestine II. sat from 26th September, 1143, to 9th March, 1144, 

162. Lucius II. sat from 12th March, 1144, until 25th February, 1145, 
when he was killed in a sedition by the throw of a stone. 

* Leo VIII. was an anti-pope whom Otho intruded in place of John XII. 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES 



523 



163. Eugene III. sat from 27th February, 1145, until 7th July, 1153. 
The Arnaldists forced him to flee from the city in 1146, but he re- 
entered in 1149. 

164. Anastasius IV. elected on 9th, and consecrated on 12th July, 

1153, sat until 2d December, 1154. 

165. Hadrian IV. elected on 3d, and consecrated on 5th December, 

1154, died on 1st September, 1159. 

166. Alexander III. sat from 20th September, 1159, until 30th Au- 
gust, 1181. 

167. Lucius III. sat from 1st September, 1181, until 24th November, 
1185. 

168. Urban III. elected 25th November, consecrated 1st December, 
1185, sat until 19th October, 1187. 

169. Gregory VIII. elected 20th, consecrated on 25th October, 1187, 
sat until 17th December, 1187. 

170. Clement III. elected on 19th December, 1187, sat until 28th 
March, 1191. 

171. Celestine III. elected on 30th March, ordained priest on 13th 
April, 1191, consecrated bishop on 14th, sat until 8tb January, 
1198. 

thirteenth century. 

172. Innocent III. sat from 8th January, 1198, until 16th July, 1216. 

173. Honorius IIL sat from 17th July, 1216, until 18th March, 1227. 

174. Gregory IX. sat from 19th March, 1227, until 21st August, 
1241. 

175. Celestine IV. elected on 22d September, 1241, sat only 17 days. 

176. Innocent IV. elected ou 24th May, and consecrated on 2d June, 
1243, sat until 7th December, 1254. 

177. Alexander IV. elected on 12th, crowned on 20th December, 
1254, died on 25th May, 1261. 

178. Urban IV. elected 29th August, consecrated on 4th September, 
1261, sat until 2d October, 1264. 

179. Clement IV. elected on 5th February, crowned on 22d February, 
1265, sat until 29th November, 1268. 

180. B. Gregory X. elected on 1st September, 1271, crowned on 27th 
March, 1272, died on 10th January, 1276. 

181. Innocent V. elected on 21st January, crowned on 22d February, 
1276, died on 22d June, 1276. 



§24 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



182. Hadrian V. sat from 10th July, 1276, only during 39 days. 

183. John XX. (XXL) elected on 15th and crowned on 20th Septem- 
ber, 1276, died on 16th May, 1277. 

184. Nicholas III. elected on 25th November, ordained priest on 13th 
December, consecrated on the 19th, and crowned on 26th December, 
1277, died on 22d August, 1280. 

185. Martin II.* (IV.) elected 21st February, crowned on 23d March, 
1281, sat until 29th March, 1285. 

186. Honorius IV. sat from 2d April, 1285, until 3d April, 1287. 

187. Nicholas IV. sat from 22d February, 1288, until 4th April, 1292. 

188. St. Celestine V. elected on 5th July, 1294, crowned on 29th Au- 
gust, voluntarily abdicated on 13th December, 1294, died on 19th 
May, 1296. 

189. Boniface VIII. sat from 24th December, 1294, until 1 0th Octo- 
ber, 1303. 

fourteenth century. 

190. B. Benedict XL* sat from 22d October, 1303, until 4th July, 
1304. 

191. Clement V. sat from 5th June, 1305, until 20th April, 1314. 
He was the first Pope who resided at Avignon. 

192. John XXI. (XXII.) sat from 7th August, 1316, until 4th Decem- 
ber, 1334. 

193. B. Benedict XII. sat from 20th December, 1334, until 25th 
April, 1342. 

194. Clement VI. sat from 7th May, 1342, until 4th December, 1352. 

195. Innocent VI. sat from 18th December, 1352, until 12th Septem- 
ber, 1362. 

196. Urban V. sat from 23d September, 1362, until 9th December, 
1370. He established his residence at Rome in 1367, but returned 
to Avignon, and died there. 

197. Gregory XL sat from 5th January, 1371, until 17th March, 1378. 
He re-established the* Papal residence at Home. 

198. Urban VI. sat from 8th April, 1378, until 15th October, 1389. 
Several cardinals created an anti-pope, Clement VII., who resided at 
Avignon, and was succeeded by Benedict XII. or XIII. 



* The Marini have been popularly confounded with those named Martin, 
and counted with them. f An anti-pope had been called Benedict X. 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



525 



199. Boniface IX.* sat from 2d November, 1389, until 1st* October, 
1404. 

FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 

200. Innocent VII. sat from 17th October, 1404, until 6th November, 
1406. 

201. Gregory XII. was chosen on 30th November, 1406. He abdica- 
ted on the 14th July, 1415, in the Council of Constance. Alexan- 
der Y. was chosen in the Council of Pisa, on 26th June, 1409, who 
dying on 4th May, 1410, was succeeded by John XXIII.f 

202. Martin V. sat from 11th November, 1417, until 20th February, 
1431. 

203. Eugene IV. sat from 3d March, 1431, until 23d February, 1447. 

204. Nicholas V. sat from 5th March, 1447, until 24th March, 1455. 

205. Callistus III. sat from 8th April, 1455, until 6th August, 1458. 

206. Pius II. sat from 19th August, 1458, until 14th August, 1464. 

207. Paul II. sat from 30th August, 1464, until 16th July, 1471. 

208. Sixtus IV. sat from 9th August, 1471, until 13th August, 1484, 

209. Innocent VIII. sat from 29th August, 1484, until 25th July, 
1492. 

210. Alexander VI. sat from 11th August, 1492, until 18th August, 
1503. 

sixteenth century. 

211. Pius III. elected on 22d September, 1503, lived only 26 days. 

212. Julius II. elected on All-hallow-eve, and consecrated on 26th No- 
vember, 1503, sat until 21st February, 1513. 

213. Leo X. elected on 15th March, 1513, died on 1st December, 1521. 

214. Adrian VI. elected on 9th January, 1522, sat until 14th Septem- 
ber, 1523. 

215. Clement VII. sat from 19th November, 1523, until 26th Septem- 
ber, 1534. 

216. Paul III. sat from 13th October, 1534, until 10th November, 
1549. 

217. Julius III. sat from 8th February, 1550, until 23d March, 1555. 
* Two anti-popes had borne this name. 

f Alexander V. and John XXIII. are found in most of the lists, even in 
those published at Rome. 

33 



526 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



218. Marcellus II. sat from 9th April, 1555, only 22 days. 

219. Paul IY. sat from 23d May, 1555, until 17th August, 1559. 

220. Pius IV. sat from 26th December, 1559, until 10th December, 
1565. 

221. St. Pius V. sat from 7th January, 1566, until 1st May, 1572. 

222. Gregory XIII. sat from 13th May, 1572, until 10th April, 1588. 

223. Sixtus V. sat from 24th April, 1588, until 27th August, 1590. 

224. Urban VII. elected on 15th September, 1590, died on 27th of the 
same month. 

225. Gregory XIV. sat from 5th December, 1590, until 15th October, 
1591. 

226. Innocent IX. sat from 29th October, 1591, to 30th December. 

227. Clement VIII. sat from 30th January, 1592, until 3d March, 
1603. 

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

228. Leo XI. elected on 2d April, 1605, and crowned on the 10th, died 
on the 27th of same month. 

229. Paul V. sat from 16th May, 1605, until 28th January, 1621. 

230. Gregory XV. sat from 9th February, 1621, until 8th July, 1623. 

231. Urban VIII. sat from 6th August, 1623, until 29th July, 1644. 

232. Innocent X. sat from 15th September, 1644, until 7th January, 
1655. 

233. Alexander VII. sat from 6th April, 1655, until 22d May, 1667. 

234. Clement IX. sat from 20th June, 1667, until 9th December, 1669. 

235. Clement X. sat from 29th April, 1670, until 22d July, 1676. 

236. Innocent XI. sat from 21st September, 1676, until 31st July, 
1689. 

237. Alexander VIII. sat from 6th October, 1689, until 1st February, 
1691. 

238. Innocent XII. sat from 13th July, 1691, until 26th September, 
1700. 

eighteenth century. 

239. Clement XI. sat from 23d November, 1700, until 19th March, 
1721. 

240. Innocent XIII. sat from 8th May, 1721, until 7th March, 1724. 



CATALOGUE OF THE POPES. 



527 



241. Benedict XIII. sat from 29th May, 1724, until 21st February, 
1730. 

242. Clement XII. sat from 12th July, 1730, until 6th February, 1740. 

243. Benedict XIV. sat from 17th August, 1740, until 3d May, 1758. 

244. Clement XIII. sat from 6th July, 1758, until 2d February, 1769. 

245. Clement XIV. sat from 19th May, 1769, until 22d September, 
1774. 

246. Pius VI. sat from 15th February, 1775, until 29th August, 1799. 

NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

247. Pius VII. sat from 14th March, 1800, until 23d August, 1823. 

248. Leo XII. sat from 28th September, 1823, until 10th February, 
1829. 

249. Pius VIII. sat from 31st March, 1829, until 30th November, 1830. 

250. Gregory XVI. sat from 2d February, 1831, until 1st June, 1846. 
251 * Pius IX. elected 17th June, 1846. 

* The number varies according as certain individuals are considered in- 
truders, or lawful popes. This is a matter for critical inquiry, and does not 
affect the succession. 



THE END. 



ERRATA. 



Page 22, 1 Oth line from bottom, for horrors, read excesses, 
64,16th " " " insert the before first. 
" 67, 8th " " top, for littles, read little. 
" 73, 25th " " " " plentitudc, read plenitude. 
" 95, 10th " " " insert there after faith. 
" 101, 6th " " bottom, in the note, for al, read tit. 
" 105,14th " " top, for perpetuators, read grafts. 
" 106, 7th " " " " 220, read 250. 
" 122, 8th " " bottom, for isolated, read insular. 
" 126, 3d " " top, take out the. 
" 204, end of last line, " " of the. 





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